


You, Me, Her

by BiFelicia



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, And They Were Plaguemates!, Andrea's... doing her best, Empathy, Established Andrea Rojas/Lena Luthor, Established Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, F/F, Flour Crowns, Fluff and Smut, Humor, Kara's a Sweetheart, Lena's Extra, Marijuana Use, No cheating, Oh, Pining (sorta), Polyamory, Quarantine, Sort of a Study of Relationships, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, and it's SMUTTY, open communication
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:27:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 46,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23490124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BiFelicia/pseuds/BiFelicia
Summary: Andrea's trying to adjust to a lot.The world being locked down when she's 6,000 miles from home.Not being able to go to work.Oh, and living with her girlfriend, Lena. And her girlfriend's other girlfriend, Kara, who is the last person Andrea ever expected Lena to settle down with.Not that there's anything wrong with Kara, exactly. Andrea almost gets it, in a way. Kara's pretty and perky and she cooks like an angel...But still.Then again, Andrea supposes she doesn't have to get it. After all, just because Lena's dating both of them doesn't mean they're dating each other.
Relationships: Eventual Kara Danvers/Andrea Rojas, Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor/Andrea Rojas, Lena Luthor/Andrea Rojas, Polyam Endgame
Comments: 640
Kudos: 1294





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I read an interview about a fella in this situation, and my imagination ran away with me a bit...
> 
> Also, as stated this is a bit different from my other works in several ways, so please read the tags carefully. Thanks and enjoy (I hope!)

_day one_

“Hey, good morning! Want some coffee?”

Andrea blinks blearily, first at Kara, and then at the steaming, bowl-sized mug she’s offering. “That’d be great,” she says quietly, accepting it and the smile Kara gives her with an averted gaze. “Where’s Lena?”

“Oh, she’s conferencing with her board. Or… the city board? A board, anyways,” Kara says, shrugging easily as she fixes herself a cup of... coffee-flavored sugar-milk, apparently. Seeing the distaste on Andrea’s face, she laughs. “Yeah, Lena hates how I take my coffee too. Says I’m gonna get diabetes.”

Andrea shrugs, not disagreeing, eyes roving over the open-concept living room and kitchen. The wall of windows lets in enough light to be blinding as it bounces off of the white-washed brick and pale wood floors. It's got Lena's modern, minimalist aesthetic; the furniture is upholstered in all whites and grays but there’s bright pops of color scattered around (jewel-toned pillows and throws on the couch, brightly-colored appliances in the kitchen), no small amount of family photos and paintings on the walls, and huge bookcases stand on either side of the TV in the living room. It’s a nice place. Cozy, lived-in, comfortable.

"Cute."

“What’s that?”

Her attention jerks to Kara, and she clears her throat. “This is a nice place. It’s cute.”

And it is. Even if a small house in the hills isn't at all where she ever pictured Lena living.

Kara visibly brightens. “Thanks! It took forever to find a place we both liked, and like, even longer to decorate it. But I’m really happy with how it turned out. You sleep okay? I know there’s a bit of clutter in the spare room, sorry. I use it to write in when Lena needs the office- she has this thing about doing work in our room- and sometimes I forget stuff in there. And I know some of my weights are under the bed, so-”

“It’s fine,” Andrea assures her. “Thank you again, for letting me stay here.”

“Of course! I didn’t want you getting stranded by yourself in National City any more than Lena did, I’m glad she agreed when I mentioned it.”

 _This_ is new. And very surprising. “When _you_ -”

“Hey, sorry, that took longer than I anticipated,” Lena says, emerging from the hallway. She grins when Kara passes her another huge mug of coffee without pause. “How are my favorite girls this morning?” she asks, popping up onto her toes to press a kiss to Andrea’s cheek that _absolutely_ doesn’t make her flush. “Good morning.”

“Morning.”

“You sleep okay?”

“As well as can be expected,” Andrea says, eyes darting to Kara’s face when Lena lingers in her space. She doesn’t know what she’s expecting to see, but it isn’t concern.

“If there’s anything we can do to make you more comfortable, please let us know,” Kara says.

Lena hums her agreement, dropping a kiss to Andrea’s shoulder and a squeeze around her waist. “What she said.”

Andrea offers a smile. “Thank you. I know this is… awkward.”

Kara’s face screws up. “Is it?” Lena huffs a laugh, crossing to Kara and butting her head against her girlfriend’s chest. Kara maneuvers to wrap her arms around Lena without spilling coffee on her. “Is... am I making you feel awkward? Because that’s not-”

“No, no you’re fine. Just the situation is… strange.”

Kara shrugs, chin resting on Lena’s head. “I’ve been in weirder.”

“Trust me, she has.” From Lena’s loud bark of laughter, Andrea doesn’t doubt it. 

Andrea offers a thin smile. “Do you mind if I use your office for a bit? I have a few video calls I have to make.”

“Of course. Kara?”

“Oh, yeah, go for it! Our casa is su casa, and all that.”

Andrea smirks at the bad Spanglish and heads back to the room she’s staying in to change into some work attire.

Kara may have found herself in stranger situations before, but Andrea has not.

_the day before_

_"They're talking about quarantining the city, setting up curfews and not letting people in or out."_

_Andrea hummed thoughtfully as she spun in her chair. "I've heard the same thing. I know they just shut down the airports, grounded all flights in and out of National City as of this afternoon."_

_"God. This is crazy. What are you going to do?"_

_Andrea's brow had furrowed. "Do?"_

_"You can't get back to your family, you_ know _they aren't going to let you keep going to the office..."_

_Andrea shrugged. "Then I'll be working from home."_

_"You're going to stay in your apartment, alone, for god knows how long?"_

_"That's the plan. It's not like I'll be wanting for space," Andrea joked._

_Lena sighed. "I really don't like that, Andi."_

_"I'll be fine, I can take care of myself."_

_"I'd rather you weren't alone."_

_"Yes, well, I'd rather be with you. But-"_

_There'd been some yelling before Lena had tapped the mute and stepped out of frame. When she came back a minute or two later, she was all smiles. "So, I might have a solution. Why don't you come stay with us?"_

_"Us, as in... you and Kara."_

_"Yes."_

_If there were things Andrea had been expecting from this day, being offered a place to stay with her girlfriend and her girlfriend's_ other _girlfriend wasn't one of them. "Lena..."_

 _"I'd feel better if you weren't in the city, cooped up by yourself. And we have plenty of space- an office_ and _a spare bedroom, and Kara doesn't mind, do you?" she asks, turning to, presumably, ask Kara the question. A muffled "Of course not!" had crackled through the phone, and then Lena had turned back to Andrea, eyebrow raised expectantly. "So, pack a bag or two and we'll see you in a bit?"_

_"Lena," Andrea muttered. "Won't that be a little weird?"_

_She'd frowned slightly, bright eyes dimming a bit. "Not for me, or her. But if it makes you uncomfortable, I don't- I know you’re far from home, right now. I just don’t like the thought of you being alone while all this is going on. And I'm going to miss you."_

_Andrea sighed, already mentally sifting through her closet. "Can I bring you two anything on the way?"_

_The bright smile she'd received had more than made up for what was sure to be an extremely awkward week._

_(Hopefully only a week.)_

***

It's not that Andrea doesn't _like_ Kara. She just doesn't _know_ her. Like, they've met- the three of them had a nice sit-down dinner at a restaurant when this whole thing started, and they've bumped into each other once or twice around town, since they work in adjoining buildings. But aside from knowing that Kara is a writer who works part-time at CatCo and has been dating Lena for a little over two years, she's a stranger.

Granted, a stranger she shares a partner with, but a stranger nonetheless.

She seems nice enough, in the brief interactions they've had, and Lena talks about Kara like she's the sun in midwinter. She’d honestly been kind of shocked when she’d met Kara- she’s not exactly Lena’s usual type. Her old friend (and now girlfriend) has always gone for people who are ambitious, smooth, and, to be totally truthful… snobs.

Kara appears to be none of these things. She’s been nothing but nice and accommodating, happy to make an absurd amount of coffee in the morning and as friendly as Lena’d said. But still, she… Andrea feels like she should be walking on eggshells, here. After all, this isn’t _her_ home, or a space she’s particularly comfortable in- in fact, before yesterday, she’d never set foot inside. 

So it's been almost a full day, and it's been weird.

There's a knock at the door, and Andrea blinks rapidly, pulled from her musing. "It's unlocked."

The door creaks open and Lena's face appears around it. "Hey, finished with your conference calls? Kara apparently has to talk to someone and she left her laptop in here.”

“Oh, yeah, finished.” 

Lena nods, stepping into the room and moving to sit on Andrea’s lap. “How was your call?”

Andrea’s eyes dart to the door as Lena settles. “Doesn’t Kara need her laptop?”

Lena quirks an eyebrow at her, looping her arms around Andrea’s neck. “Do you want me to leave?”

Andrea smirks. “Not particularly, I’m just trying to be... respectful.”

“Of?”

“Lena,” Andrea says, a note of warning in her voice. “You know what I’m trying to be respectful of. I’m already putting you both out enough, I don’t want to be all over you in her _home._ ”

Lena hums thoughtfully. “You _do_ know that Kara is _aware_ of the fact that we’re dating, right?”

Andrea rolls her eyes. “I figured as much, yes.”

“And that this is also my home?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Then stop being weird,” Lena breathes, ducking forward for a kiss.

 _“This entire situation is weird,”_ Andrea hisses.

Lena sighs, pulls away. “I know. But Kara _honestly_ just wants to make friends with you. She’s afraid you don’t like her, or something. And I have to say, someone liking me and _not_ liking Kara would be a real first.”

“I don’t dislike her,” Andrea disagrees, and it’s… well, it's not _un_ true. “I just don’t _know_ her. And now I’m staying in your house, I don’t… I’m not sure what the boundaries are, here. I’m trying to be a good houseguest, and a good girlfriend to you while _also_ not upsetting your other girlfriend…”

“It’s a lot,” Lena summarizes. When Andrea keeps her gaze fixed elsewhere, she cups her face, smoothing her thumbs over the muscles jumping at her jaw until Andrea turns to look at her. “Look, I know this is hard. It’s not the easiest thing for me, either- I’m pretty used to you both being different parts of my life. _But_ ,” she cuts in when Andrea opens her mouth to agree, “I don’t hate having you both here. It’s nice, to have my favorite people all in one place. If you want to go try to find somewhere else to stay, I get it, and I won’t argue. Just know that Kara will think it’s her fault and mope for as long as we’re stuck in isolation.”

Andrea huffs. “Well that’s hardly fair to use against me. She’s basically a puppy. You’re telling me I’m kicking a puppy.”

Lena shrugs. “I don’t know that I’d call Kara a _puppy_.”

“ _L_ _ena_.”

“Give her a chance. Kara wants you to like her, and I _promise_ that it’s easier to like her than it is to not. And, if it’ll make you feel better, we can have a talk about boundaries and whatnot later- though I think you’d be surprised. Kara’s… very laid-back. Not a jealous bone in her body.”

"Lucky you.” Andrea thinks on all of this for a moment. “You understand that this tactic is totally unfair? Sitting on my lap and diffusing my arguments?”

A wicked smile crosses Lena’s face. “Oh, I’m sorry, did you find it _distracting_?” she asks breathily, rocking her hips slowly down into Andrea’s.

“You’re a tease,” Andrea grumbles.

“Who’s teasing?” Lena asks, arching an eyebrow. Against her will, Andrea’s gaze darts to the door, and Lena sighs fondly. She climbs off of Andrea’s lap and reaches to straighten the collar of her shirt. “Fine. Just know that you teased _yourself_ on this one.”

“Noted.”

When Lena reemerges into the main room, she sees Kara twisted into a human pretzel on the couch, staring intently at her phone, tongue poking out between her teeth. Deep in her process, she’s utterly focused and _very_ adorable. “I believe you need this?”

Kara’s attention snaps over to her, and she smiles. “My hero.” She makes grabby hands at Lena, who chuckles and walks the wayward device to her. 

“How’s it going?” Lena asks. 

Kara shrugs. “It’s going. Slower, now that I can’t get to the library.”

The fact that Kara specifically goes to the library to do research on her _phone_ is inexplicably lovely. God, Lena loves her. Like, _loves_ her. “You know you can probably go use the office now, She’s finished with her calls, and I know you usually do better in there than out here. Andrea’s always been a good study partner, doesn’t talk or pop her gum.”

The tips of Kara’s ears flush. “Oh, I mean, I don’t want to disturb her. She can use the office, I’m fine working out here for a bit.”

Lena sighs. “Kara…”

“Lena,” she says firmly, “I want all of us to be comfy here. She isn’t, so I’m gonna hang back and give her some space, which she clearly wants. No biggie.” Seeing that Lena’s apparently a bit put out at this logic, she sets aside the computer and drags Lena down onto her lap. “Don’t pout, it doesn’t suit you.”

Lena smirks, looping her arms loosely over Kara's shoulders. “Excuse you, I was _made_ to pout. Do you see these lips?”

"Mmm, I do, and you're absolutely right. I’m sorry. I know how you pride yourself on having a gift for gloom.”

“Thank you.”

“Being masterfully morose.”

“Kara.”

“Exceptionally emo.”

“Oh my _god_ ,” Lena laughs. She digs her fingers into Kara’s sides, eliciting a shriek. “You’re a _dork_.”

“Hey, you knew that going in. Really you enabled me, maybe even made me more of a dork.”

“Oh, really?”

“Well, I mean, you’re the hottest woman on the planet, and you regularly have sex with me- even though I’m a dork.” Kara says this thoughtfully before gripping Lena’s hips and flipping them in a swift movement, so Lena’s stretched out along the couch with Kara’s hips between her legs. “If having sex with you isn’t incentive, I don’t know what is,” Kara continues, as though she didn’t just send Lena from a simmer to a boil with the casual display of strength. 

Lena laughs a bit breathlessly. “I can’t argue that.”

“I know. It’s ‘cause I’m smart at words, and stuff.”

“Mm, clearly. And so humble, too.”

“Always.”

Lena tangles a hand in her hair, dragging her down for a kiss. Kara hums happily, nipping at Lena’s lower lip and running her tongue along it soothingly. Lena gasps a bit, like she always does, and Kara takes her open mouth as an invitation to slide her tongue inside. The hand in her hair tightens to a fist, and Kara whimpers a bit before grinding her hips against Lena in retaliation. The answering gasp sends her head spinning. Lena’s hand is _just_ sliding under the hem of Kara’s goofy _‘Salad: the Taste of Sadness’_ shirt when-

"Oh. Sorry."

Kara leaps backwards- or at least, she attempts to. Lena’s ankles are locked around her, and she’s stopped abruptly, arms windmilling in the air as she tries to keep her balance. “Hey, Andrea!”

Andrea arches a brow, fighting a smirk at this display (and losing). “Sorry, I was just letting you know I’m finished up in the office. In case you needed to use it.”

“Okay great, thank you!” Kara yells, both hands covering her scarlet face. 

“You’re- _ahem_ \- you’re welcome,” Andrea snorts, fully against her will, and retreats back to the spare bedroom.

Lena is laughing herself silly, shaking so hard she’s almost afraid she’ll break a rib as Kara collapses face first onto her, forehead knocking heavy against her sternum. “Oh, god. Oh my _god_. She probably hates me.”

“She doesn’t hate you.”

“She caught me humping you!”

“So?”

“Lenaaaaa,” Kara groans. “I’ve been trying to make her feel more comfortable here! This probably did the opposite!” She disentangles herself from Lena and stands, running a hand through her hair and fixing her clothes with a frustrated sigh. “I’m gonna change and go for a run, okay?”

Lena nods, lips pursed, and Kara disappears down the hallway, the door to their bedroom closing loudly in the too-quiet house.

“How is it,” she muses aloud, still sprawled on the couch and _aching_ , “that I’m dating two beautiful women, they’re both under one roof, and I can barely get a kiss?”

The world is truly unfair.

_day three_

Dinner is… very quiet.

Which is unusual for any number of reasons, not the least of which are Kara being a bit of a chatterbox whenever she tweaks a recipe to get solid feedback on it, and Andrea generally being very… vocal, in her appreciation of a good meal. And this is a _very_ good meal, a mushroom and chicken risotto with a handful of herbs and spices, paired with a crisp, fruity white burgundy that compliments it well. Andrea had said as much to Kara, who immediately beamed and sucked in a breath to start explaining everything before she’d let it out in a whoosh, simply saying “Thank you,” before shoveling food into her mouth with near-mechanical repetition. Andrea had followed suit, staying silent and eating as quickly as was polite.

It’s been three days of stilted conversation and the three of them existing in the same room as little as possible, and quite frankly, Lena’s had enough. “Okay, so, I think it’s clear that we need to talk about the elephant in the room, here.”

Two pairs of wide, bright blue eyes lock on her, and she can practically see Andrea’s defenses going up- she can _certainly_ see Kara’s shoulders hunch up to her ears. 

“Okay. What, um… what do we need to talk about?” Kara asks.

Andrea snorts delicately into her wine, draining it before reaching to pour herself another glass.

Lena shoots them both a look but continues. “Both of you have expressed to me that you’re concerned about boundaries. So, we need to talk about that.”

Kara immediately chokes, averting her gaze, ears burning. Andrea remains stoic, face carefully nonchalant even as a flush creeps up her neck. “Alright.”

Lena looks at them, from one to the other, and sighs in fond frustration. "Neither of you is going to talk, are you?"

Kara turns redder. Andrea's brow ticks upward before her expression goes smooth again.

"Fantastic."

"Um…"

Lena turns to Kara with a relieved smile. "Go ahead."

"Actually, I was kinda hoping to talk to Andrea? Like, alone? Just for a minute- if she's okay with it, that is."

Andrea blinks. "That's fine."

Lena shrugs, sliding her chair back and standing. "Alright. I'll go answer some emails, or something." She drops a quick kiss to the tops of both their heads and leaves the room, a heavy silence descending in her wake.

Kara takes a deep breath, seems to be working herself up to speaking, and Andrea can’t help but to vent the steam she’s building with a, “Go ahead.”

She’s never claimed to not be a bit of a shit.

Kara looks up, slightly startled, before laughing at herself sheepishly. “Sorry, I um… okay, so I sorta get this feeling. That you don’t particularly like me. And I’m not sure if I’ve done something to upset you, or make you feel uncomfortable, but if I did, that’s not what- I didn’t mean to, and if you tell me what it is, I think this whole… isolation thing would be a little less-”

“Fucking agonizing?” Andrea interrupts, whipcrack grin and eyebrow raise breaking the tension of her words.

 _“-awkward,”_ Kara agrees with a relieved laugh. “I know that this is super weird for you, and I just… I guess I don’t like feeling like that, and I’d hate to have you think I feel that way about _you_. Because I really don’t. Dislike you, that is. I’m sorry, I haven’t done… _this_ before, ever, and I’m trying not to make any mistakes. But just know that you’re welcome here, okay? And I know it probably sounds childish, or whatever, but I’d like for us to be friends. My sister says I’m a people-pleaser, can’t stand having people not like me, but, I mean, what’s wrong with being nice to people, right?”

Andrea studies her, head cocked slightly to the side. A faint hint of a smile tugs up at the corner of her mouth. “Wow.”

Kara laughs again, a bit self-conscious as she rubs at the back of her neck and adjusts her glasses. “Sorry, I know I talk a lot. Lena’s kinda into it, but it drives other people crazy. But the point is, I want you to be comfortable here. I don’t want you feeling like you can’t kiss our girlfriend in front of me, or that you can’t, like, exist outside of that spare room. Because that kinda defeats the point of you not staying in the city, right?” She locks eyes with Andrea, determined and empathetic, and it occurs to Andrea that she just might have Kara Danvers pegged entirely wrong. “So how can we make this work? ‘Cause I think we’re driving Lena insane.”

Andrea snorts, shaking her head. “I think you’re right about that. I overheard her loudly lamenting her blue-balls when you went out the other day.”

Kara claps a hand over her mouth, eyes brightening up as her shoulders shake with restrained mirth before she clears her throat. “Okay. So how can we do this? Because between you and me, I don’t think the status quo of us barely interacting is going to keep working out....”

Andrea fully laughs at this. “Right again.” She resettles herself, drawing her legs up and crossing them on the seat of the chair and shifting until she’s more comfortable. Kara reaches to top up her wine. “Oh, thank you. And I’m to blame for this awkwardness more than you are. I’m not used to sharing my space with anyone, and _especially_ not sharing a space that isn’t mine with my girlfriend and her _other_ girlfriend. So I apologize, if _I_ made _you_ \- either of you- uncomfortable in your own home. That wasn’t my intention. I’ve honestly just been trying to be respectful of, well, you. Not make you any more uncomfortable than you probably already are, with my being here for who knows how long.”

“Wow. Who knew Lena had a thing for dummies?” Kara chuckles. 

"Anyone who went to high school with her," Andrea deadpans, pulling a loud belt of laughter from Kara.

“Look, I know you guys are dating. You’re in a committed relationship, I understand that. You don’t need to tiptoe around me.”

Andrea raises a brow, sips at her wine. “Are you sure? It can be different, knowing those things and _seeing_ them in person.”

Kara’s scoffs. “If you think Lena went for this polyamorous thing without using _literally_ all of these arguments to make sure I was okay with it…”

“I’m not arguing, I’m just saying-”

“You don’t have to. I get that it can be weird for people.”

“But not for you?”

Kara shakes her head slowly, eyes earnest. “Why would it?”

“Because we’re talking about me and your girlfriend.”

Kara cocks her head, brows furrowed. “She’s _your_ girlfriend, too.”

And, _oh_ , but that’s the reassurance Andrea didn’t realize she needed- surrounded by evidence, tangible and otherwise, of Lena’s life with Kara has Andrea _distinctly_ feeling herself to be the other woman in the lives of an otherwise very happy couple. She shakes off the deep resonance of the simple statement with a chuckle and a sip from her wine. 

“And like I said, I know it’s… silly, but I really would like for us to get to a point where we’re friends. Because I’m nice, I promise I’m nice. And like, I tend to ramble and I sing what I’m doing when I cook and I’m _very_ obsessed with food, but I think we could be good friends. And I already like you, and _I_ am very likeable, so it’d be _super_ easy to get on that track.”

This is, once again, a surprise. “You like me? You don’t even know me.”

Kara shrugs, adjusts her glasses, smiles. “I know you make Lena happy,” she says simply. “That says a _lot_. And the rest I can learn, right?”

Andrea shakes her head with a smile. “Right.”

“Awesome! So, in summary, we have to stop edging Lena or she’s gonna become homicidal." This has Andrea struggling not to spit wine across the table as she laughs, and Kara looks very pleased with herself. "I don’t care if you guys do whatever, _please_ stop hiding in the spare room because it makes me anxiety-clean random parts of the house, and feel free to read, watch, use, or eat whatever, whenever. Okay?”

And maybe it’s the wine, or the (now) obviously necessary conversation, or the first home cooked meal Andrea’s had in ages, but she feels a lot lighter. “Okay.”

“Do you have any boundaries you want set for this? Because if you’re staying here, you deserve to have a say on what you’re comfortable with, and what you’re not.”

Surprised again. “Oh. No, I don’t think.”

Kara watches her. “Are you sure? I know you kind of caught us in a compromising position the other day.”

Andrea considers this. Remembers the sight of Kara’s lean body on Lena’s, the motion of her hips as they ground into the cradle of Lena’s thighs, the smooth expanse of tanned skin as Lena slid her hands up Kara’s shirt, the sound Kara had made when Lena had pulled her hair…

“Andrea?”

She blinks rapidly and clears her throat. “I’m sure.”

Kara smiles, warm and happy. “Great. I’m gonna go grab Lena, so she can _stop pretending she wasn’t trying to overhear everything we’ve been saying_.” She says this last notably louder, almost yelling, a knowing smile on her face that seems to say, _‘Wait for it…'_

There’s a dull thud from the office, followed by muffled cursing, and Kara winks as she gets up and moves down the hallway.

 _‘Well, damn,’_ Andrea thinks. _‘Lena was right; she’s very hard_ _to dislike.’_

Later that night, after the dishes are cleared away (Andrea had helped, amid protests from Kara) and the wine finished by Lena ( _“It’s how I help with dinner,” she’d said with a grin, mimicking the skunk face Kara had given her and pulling a laugh from the blonde_ ), and boundaries have been discussed _again_ (this time with Lena's input and approval), the three of them settle in the living room- Andrea on the loveseat with her laptop (determined that if she’s going to be more friendly, the least she can do is not hide in her room immediately after dinner like a teenager), and Kara and Lena on the sofa, Lena’s head in Kara’s lap and Kara’s hand in her hair as the scrolls aimlessly through her Netflix, stopping occasionally to read a description before inevitably moving on. After nearly 20 minutes of this, Lena twists to look up at her.

“Just put on _Jiro_ , you know you want to.”

Kara huffs fondly. “You’ve gotta be sick of that movie by now, babe.”

“It’s a good movie,” Lena counters. “Besides, it usually gets me sushi the next day, so…”

Kara shrugs before turning her attention to Andrea. “How about you? Opposed to watching a tiny man make delicious sushi for an hour?”

Andrea smirks over her laptop. “Sushi, huh?”

“If you don’t want to, it’s fine, but I promise it’s really good- and it’s also gonna make you want sushi, like, _immediately_ ,” Kara assures her. When Andrea nods, she grins, quickly slides to her ‘My List’ section, locating the appropriate documentary and settling on the couch with a happy noise of content, fingers scratching gently against Lena’s scalp.

Andrea finds herself unexpectedly enthralled by the film, laptop left forgotten on the floor. And, true to Kara’s prediction, she’s left with a wicked craving for sushi. At the end, she makes a mental note to attempt getting a reservation the next time business takes her to Japan.

“So?”

Andrea tips her head back to look at her. “You were right- I’m hungry again.”

Lena laughs. “So am I. _But_ , I also need to get some sleep.”

“Okie doke. Snack, real quick?”

“Sounds great, thank you.”

Kara smiles and extricates herself from under Lena and moves to the kitchen, mumbling to herself before pulling up short and turning around. “Andrea, snack?”

“Sure,” she agrees, calculating that it’d be rude to refuse. And, well, she _is_ a bit hungry, after watching the documentary...

Kara nods and continues her journey. Lena sits up and turns to Andrea with a raised eyebrow and a half-smile. “She was _very_ appalled by my eating habits when we first got together, so now she tries to be sneaky and feed me all the time. And she probably thinks _you_ have the same bad habits I did.”

“Ah. I’ll need to step up my exercise regimen, if I’m going to be eating this much all the time.”

“You will,” Lena agrees. “Food is how Kara shows she cares. And she cares a _lot_.”

They’re both still chuckling when Kara comes back out bearing a small wooden platter with apple slices, cheese, slices of a toasted, crusty bread, as well as what appears to be some sort of sausage. At Andrea’s questioning look, she hastens to explain. “So a mix of carbs, protein, and fat is actually pretty good for you before bed, helps you stay in REM longer because you don’t get hungry- even though people think your metabolism slows way down when you’re asleep, it stays pretty much the same, so not eating makes your energy get too low and makes you sleep poorly.”

Andrea’s eyebrows raise. “I’ve never heard that. I always heard the opposite, that snacking before bed was an easy way to gain weight.”

Kara bobbles her head back and forth. “Yes and no. It depends on what you eat. Like, all this stuff is pretty healthy- the mozzarella is a low-fat cheese, fruit, fresh bread, and this salami… well, that’s mostly because it tastes good,” Kara admits, biting into a miniature apple-cheese-salami sandwich with a grin. "But it _is_ a good source of protein."

“Fair enough,” Andrea chuckles. She spreads some cheese on an apple slice, humming. “If nothing else, it tastes good.”

“Thanks!”

“Kara makes the cheese herself,” Lena says fondly.

“Really?"

“Yeah, I learned when I was working on a project in Italy a few years back. It’s super easy- I can show you sometime, if you want?”

“Sure,” Andrea shrugs.

“Awesome! It only takes like 20 minutes, too, and like, warm, freshly-made mozzarella is gonna blow your mind.”

“I bet.”

Lena watches the exchange with a soft smile before yawning. 

Kara knocks her shoulder against Lena’s gently. “Ready for bed?”

There’s a brief pause before Lena nods. “Yeah.”

“Where are you sleeping tonight, sweetheart?”

Lena looks briefly over at Andrea, who, after having frozen momentarily, is trying _very_ hard to seem like she’s aloof and barely paying attention to the conversation happening less than three feet away. It hasn’t come up, since she got here, where Lena would be sleeping- Andrea usually retreats to the spare room right after dinner and doesn’t reemerge until morning. 

Lena turns back to Kara, drops a kiss to her shoulder. ”The other room, tonight. If Andrea doesn’t mind, of course?”

Andrea forces herself to swallow as two sets of eyes move to her. “No, that’s fine,” she says, proud that she manages to keep her voice steady. “Let me just clear the bed off, I probably left papers all over it this afternoon.”

Lena nods. “I wanted to say goodnight to Kara anyways.”

“Okie doke,” Kara says, warm and affectionate and _utterly_ dorky. “I’m gonna clean this up, okay?”

“I’ll help,” Lena offers, and Andrea takes the easy out gratefully, collecting her laptop and disappearing into the spare room.

Lena slips into the room around 20 minutes later, closing the door behind her with a soft click. “Hey, you.”

And it’s so simple, is the thing. It shouldn’t feel like home and forever, hearing ‘Hey, you’ from the woman she loves- who she’s loved, in one way or another, since they were 15. Two words, six letters, aren’t big enough for that. But it’s all she thinks whenever Lena says it, and it makes her so goddamn soft it’s mildly disgusting.

“Hi,” she murmurs, lifting the comforter in invitation. 

Lena takes it, sliding into the empty half of the bed and shifting so she’s facing Andrea. “Are you doing better?”

“I am,” Andrea agrees, wrapping an arm around Lena’s waist and pulling her closer until they’re chest to chest and nose to nose. “I get it now.”

“Get what?”

“Why you like her. Kara.”

Rather than take offense, Lena hums and smiles. “Mm. She’s something else, isn’t she?”

Andrea thinks of the very intense conversation they’d managed to laugh through, the constant checking-in Kara’s been doing, with both her _and_ Lena, the food, the earnestness shining in her eyes when she'd said she wanted to be friends.... and promptly decides to shove these thoughts away, refocusing on Lena’s face. “She is. And here I thought you’d lost your mind- a blonde writer, Lena. A. _Blonde_. _Writer_. Lillian must be thrilled.”

Lena snorts. “Kara’s still convinced that she can win her over. But we _do_ tend to spend holidays with Kara’s family. They’re really great people. It's easier, with them. Easier than I ever thought it'd be for me."

“Good for you,” Andrea says softly, and she means it- she knows how much Lena had always wanted a family who wanted _her_.

“Thanks.” Lena pulls back slightly, mismatched eyes roving over Andrea’s face as she pushes a few locks of hair from her eyes. “I’m really happy, you know. You make me happy, always have.”

Andrea smiles, slow as curling smoke. “Good,” she whispers, leaning forward to press a chaste kiss to Lena’s lips.

Lena had evidently anticipated this, and when Andrea pulls back, she leans in again for a slightly longer, slower kiss. And then another, and another, until she's sucking Andrea’s lower lip between her own, biting down gently on it, soothing it with her tongue. Her hands start to wander, cupping the back of Andrea’s neck to pull her closer as she drags the instep of her foot up her girlfriend’s calf.

“What are you doing?” Andrea asks knowingly.

“What do you think?” Lena breathes, recapturing her lips and kissing her deep and languid and _filthy_. Her nails scratch at the nape of Andrea’s neck, other hand already under her shirt and moving slowly up her torso.

“I think _you_ think you’re going to get _laid_.”

“Someone in this house should,” Lena counters, and Andrea’s answering chuckle is lost in another kiss.

It’s almost effortless, them building and building, slow slow slow until it _isn’t_ slow, until Lena’s panting, hips shifting as she grinds on the thigh Andrea’s slotted between her own and the friction through her shorts isn’t even _close_ to what she wants, what she needs. Until Andrea’s got one hand gripping at her hip, pushing and pulling with Lena’s movements, and the other cupping her breast under her shirt, thumbing over her nipple as she nips and sucks and chases Lena’s lips rather than chasing the air her lungs are burning for.

When Lena hooks her knee over Andrea’s hip, Andrea pulls back a bit, panting, eyes dark and lips red and kiss-swollen. “Kara-”

“-is fine,” Lena says in a rush, mouthing wetly at Andrea’s chin, lips, the underside of her jaw- anywhere she can reach. “The walls are thick, this bed is sturdy enough not to creak, and she installed those bumper things to the headboard a few months ago.” 

“You’re sure?”

“Yes.” She rolls onto her back, pulling Andrea halfway on top of her. “You’ve always made me happy, so, _so_ happy, Andi, and what would make me really, _really_ happy is if you would just fuck me. _Now_.”

“You’re very demanding for someone who’s _literally_ begging for it,” Andrea husks against her ear, punctuating this with a bite to her earlobe that’s _just_ the right side of harsh and a firm roll of her hips. 

Lena whines, rolls her body up against Andrea’s in invitation. “Please, Andi. Please, please, please, you’re driving me _crazy_ …”

_‘Well, hell. In for a penny...’_

“Okay, baby. Okay. But I need you to be quiet, can you be quiet?”

Lena nods eagerly, biting down on her lower lip, pupils blown wide, hips canting up to roll against… anything. Anything for some friction, some _relief._

Andrea kisses her temple, dragging her lips back to the shell of Lena’s ear. “Good girl.” She smirks into Lena’s hair at the full-body shudder those words never fail to elicit. “What do you want, Lena?”

“You.”

 _God_ , but she’s soft. “You’ve got me,” Andrea tells her quietly. “Lift up.”

Lena raises her hips eagerly, helping Andrea push her shorts down and kicking them off, pulling her sleep-shirt over her head preemptively, leaving her in nothing but a thin pair of panties. Andrea settles her hips between her legs, propping herself up on her elbows and licking her lips before trailing them sloppy and open-mouthed from Lena’s ear to her cheek to lips to chin to neck. Lena whines a bit, hips shifting, legs parting further, only to snap tight around her waist when Andrea’s wandering mouth nips lightly at the top of her breast. “ _Andi_.”

“You bruise so easy,” Andrea murmurs quietly, watching the mark turn a faint pink and moving to smooth a thumb over it reverently. “Always have to be careful, so I don’t mark you all up.” She massages one breast almost lazily, licks out at the pert nipple, biting down, grinning against the soft skin when Lena shudders under her again. She grinds her hips forward in a calculated move, and Lena moans, loud in the quiet room. Andrea moves up swiftly to capture the sound in her mouth with a smile, hand smoothing over Lena’s soft stomach and relishing in the way it twitches at her touch. “What happened to staying quiet?”

“God, fuck, _please_ , please stop teasing,” Lena begs, pulling her roughly into a needy, uncoordinated, _wet_ kiss. “‘m so turned on I can’t _think_.”

“I like hearing that,” Andrea admits quietly, staying close enough to Lena that their lips brush as she speaks. “I love hearing how much you want me. Love seeing how red you get.” She grinds forward again, harder, this time, and goes a bit glassy when Lena’s teeth bite down on her lip, the white a stark contrast to swollen red. “You’re the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen.”

_“God.”_

Andrea decides- based on the slickness she feels seeping through Lena’s underwear into the stomach of her shirt, and the gasping whines she keeps letting out- like she can’t seem to catch her breath, and the near-teary way her eyes are shining before they squeeze shut- that Lena’s really and truly had enough.

 _‘Well,'_ she amends as she bears down again and sends Lena’s breath stuttering from her chest, _‘almost enough.’_

“Okay, _querida_ , okay. I’ve got you,” Andrea assures her quietly, pressing a soft kiss to her lips and shifting her weight. “How do you want me?”

“I want your mouth on me,” Lena pants, grunting as Andrea’s hips shift again and draw heavy over her clit. “God, please, I’m- please.”

“I’ve got you.”

Andrea moves down, licking at the freckle in the center of Lena’s throat that she’s always hated and Andrea thinks is adorable, nipping and sucking lightly at the straining muscles in her neck, across her collarbones, meandering down to her left breast and then to the right, kissing down the underside to her stomach, which jumps and tenses under her ministrations. Lena grumbles at her lackadaisical pace, tangling her hands in Andrea’s dark hair and pushing her _down_.

“Bossy,” Andrea chides, nipping just below Lena’s bellybutton.

 _“Slow,”_ Lena counters, slightly petulant.

And Andrea can’t really argue that, just laughs as she shifts, shouldering her way between Lena’s thighs and looking down at her hungrily. “I hope you didn’t like these underwear, _cariño,_ ” she comments. “Because you soaked them.”

“Your fault,” Lena groans quietly.

Andrea ducks forward and licks hot and firm over the underwear in question, gratified when Lena has to clap a hand over her mouth to stifle the noise this pulls from her and unable to resist doing it again. “Look at you,” she murmurs, fingers hooking into the waistband and pulling them down, eyes fixated on the skin she’s uncovering- swollen and slick and _perfect_ . “You’re _wrecked_.”

“Andi,” Lena murmurs. “You’re _killing_ me.”

And without further ado, Andrea tugs _hard_ on the underwear, one side of the flimsy (but pretty) pair giving way under the assault and freeing up Lena’s legs and Andrea’s hands. Andrea smooths her hands up the tops of Lena’s thighs before using them to pin her hips to the bed.

Andrea’’s always liked giving oral. It’s fun, and relaxing, and it makes her partner feel good, which, in turn, makes _her_ feel good. She’s good at it, too, she knows she is, able to read and adjust to every little twitch and roll and whimper. And Lena, especially, is fun. So reactive to every slick slide of Andrea’s tongue, every scratch of her nails on Lena’s hips… Andrea knows her _so well_ , is the thing. It heightens it, in a way that’s not there with anyone else. It knocks Andrea on her ass every time.

And all that’s leaving out the fact that she tastes fucking _good_ . A heady mix of salt and tang and something so uniquely _her_ …

Lena is every flavor Andrea's ever wanted on her tongue. 

Andrea dives in with fervor, tongue dragging from her hole up to her clit and lips sealing around it as she sucks at it, hands heavy as she keeps Lena’s jerking hips pinned. Lena lets out a breathy moan, her wetness coating Andrea’s chin. She drags her tongue over her again, feather-light, this time, reveling in Lena’s hand balling tight in her hair as she loses herself in this. Over and again, her jaw works and cheeks hollow, dragging the edge of her teeth over Lena's clit… Andrea's using everything she knows gets Lena loud, just to see if she can stay _quiet_.

" _G_ _od, you taste so fucking good…"_

It’s not that she wants Kara to hear them, honestly; she just wants to see how far she can really _push_ Lena. Wants to see how much she can do to her while Lena manages to keep quiet and _be good._

After all, Lena likes to be good.

And, to her credit, Lena’s handling it shockingly well. Or, at least, she is until Andrea’s tongue slides back down, licking at her entrance before working inside.

 _“Fuck!”_ she hisses, pulling one of her hands from Andrea’s hair and clamping it tight over her mouth.

Andrea chuckles. She can _feel_ how close Lena is- the muscles clenching tighter and _tighter_ around her tongue, hips jumping under her hands, legs closing a bit around her head. She shifts a bit, looping an arm over Lena’s thigh and slipping one hand down lower until she can feel Lena’s clit under her thumb. She licks her way to the straining bud, wet and messy, before returning to where she’d been. Her thumb rubs a few firm, tight circles over Lena’s clit, tongue reaching as deep inside her as Andrea can get it, and it sends Lena over with a sharp gasp.

Her body goes taut, arching up off the bed, nails scratching harshly at Andrea’s scalp as her legs snap _tight_ over her ears. Andrea keeps up the pace, not slowing for a second, and is rewarded with a husky groan as Lena flies over again. After what seems like forever, she goes limp, slumping back onto the bed, chest heaving with exertion as her legs fall open. She’s flushed from hairline to thigh, sweaty and lead-limbed and _perfect_.

"You're so good, _querida."Perfect."_ Andrea grins against her, pressing a soft kiss to her clit that has Lena groaning a laugh and pushing her head away.

“No, no more, you broke me.”

"You're tapping out after _two_? Who are you?"

"Oh, honey, this is just round _one_. You're sorely mistaken if you think I'm done with you."

Andrea’s forehead drops to Lena’s stomach as they both laugh breathlessly. She presses a lingering kiss there, licking out at the cooling sweat on her belly before propping her chin on arms crossed over Lena’s hips and looking up at her with what she knows is probably the world’s dopiest, softest smile. 

Lena smiles down at her, fingers still twisted in her hair, massaging her scalp soothingly where she'd scratched before. “Hey, you.”

 _God_ , but Andrea loves her. “Hey.”

“You gonna come up here?”

Andrea shrugs, licking at her own lips. “The view from here’s pretty great, actually.”

And, if possible, Lena flushes even _darker_ as she laughs, the movement bouncing Andrea’s head. “ _God_. Get up here so I can return the favor.”

Andrea grins, crawling up so she’s face to face with her girlfriend. “Well, who am I to deny the great Lena Luthor what she wants?”

Lena snorts and slaps at her shoulder, smoothing her hands down Andrea's back over her shirt (which is, somehow, still on). “You just made me beg for almost an _hour_.” 

“Are you complaining?”

 _“Yes,”_ Lena mutters petulantly. “I think I blacked out for a second.”

“I’m going to take that as a high compliment,” Andrea informs her.

“How dare you.” She pulls gently upward where her hands are gripping at Andrea’s ass. “C’mon, _hora de montar, vaquera._ ”

“I should’ve _never_ taught you Spanish,” Andrea deadpans. “I knew I’d regret it eventually, I just didn't realize it'd be sex jokes.”

Lena snorts as Andrea shifts so she’s straddling her hips. “I was learning Spanish before I met you. I just had more incentive with you around. Now get naked.”

“ _Siempre tan madonda, Lena_ ,” Andrea chides, words rolling warm and sooth off her tongue. She strips out of her sweaty, sticky shirt and throws it somewhere across the room. When Lena scrapes her nails pointedly over her bare ass, she shrugs. "Some of us come prepared."

Lena strokes her hands down and back up Andrea’s thighs, looking up at her so full of warm affection and _love_ that Andrea has to look away before she breaks. “Fingers or mouth?” she asks softly.

Andrea knows she won’t last long- she’s cooled a bit while they’ve been talking, but with Lena’s strong hands gliding up and down her legs, sliding closer and closer to where she needs them before moving away again, she can already feel the telltale tightening in her lower belly. 

She _really_ likes giving oral.

“Fingers,” she says, relieved when Lena just taps her hip to get her to lift up. She sits up and turns, piling a mountain of pillows behind her and settling back against them. 

“I know you hate the term ‘pillow princess’, but, I mean...” Andrea muses, grinning when Lena squawks and slaps her thigh. 

“Shut up.”

Andrea chuckles, moving forward until her knees bracket Lena’s hips. Lena slots her hand between them, fingers dragging intentionally through Andrea’s wetness, and she cocks a brow. 

Andrea huffs at her, impatient herself now that she’s so close to getting what she wants. “Yes, you’re very hot, whatever.” She loops her arms over Lena’s shoulders and pulls Lena forward, thrusting her chest out in clear invitation.

Lena grins at her, tipping forward to lick Andrea from sternum to collarbone, and Andrea aligns Lena's fingers to her entrance before sinking down on them with a stuttering gasp. Lena nips at Andrea’s sharp collarbones with a smirk, fluttering her fingers inside of the clinging, wet heat. Andrea groans. “Now who’s being loud?” Lena teases.

Andrea draws herself up until only the tips of Lena’s fingers are still inside her before slamming back down with a glare. “I will _kill_ you.”

 _“La petite mort,”_ Lena drawls, free hand gripping Andrea’s hip to steady her as she picks up her pace, increasing it until she’s well and truly riding Lena’s fingers for all she’s worth. Lena meets her thrusts eagerly, curling her fingers every time Andrea’s hips rise, sucking hard at the stiff peak of Andrea’s nipple. “I can tell you’re close,” she says, mouthing her way to the nipple she’s been neglecting and nipping harshly at it. “What do you need?”

 _“God, fuck,”_ Andrea groans, head dropping onto Lena’s shoulder as her rhythm falters. “More.”

“I’ve got you, honey,” Lena tells her, slotting a third finger into place. 

Andrea swallows a whine at the new stretch, just this side of painful. She grinds once, twice, three times before biting down on her own wrist as she comes hard around Lena's long fingers. After a long time (or maybe no time at all), she relaxes, dropping her full weight onto Lena’s torso and panting against her neck. “Have I ever mentioned,” she gasps, “how much I love your hands? They’re like magic.”

Lena chuckles, running her free hand over Andrea’s hair and down her back soothingly. “Once or twice. And the feeling is mutual.” She flutters the fingers still trapped inside Andrea, and the spent woman yelps and jackknifes sideways onto the bed, sending Lena into a laughing fit. 

“You’re the worst girlfriend,” Andrea huffs, chuckling in spite of herself.

“Maybe. But you love me, so.”

Andrea looks up at Lena, smiling, the moonlight streaming in through the window making her appear even more ethereal than usual. “I do. God help me.”

Lena tips over so she’s leaning slightly over Andrea, smiling that same smile that makes Andrea simultaneously feel capable of anything and want to explode. “Good. You thirsty?”

“Har-har,” Andrea deadpans.

“For _water_.”

“Very.”

Lena ducks forward to press a quick kiss to her cheek. “Alright. Be right back.”

Andrea watches her pull on her shorts (and pull a face at the way the damp parts cling to her thighs) and shirt before tiptoeing her way to the kitchen. Andrea snorts loudly when she hears Lena curse from the other room- this entire situation reminds her so much of their time at Mt. Helena’s that she half-expects a nun to appear in the doorway with a flashlight. 

“What’s funny?” Lena asks, two water bottles in her hands. 

“I was just thinking, this whole thing reminds me of when we were kids,” Andrea says, watching a smile break across Lena’s face as she kicks the door closed quietly behind her. “Being quiet, sneaking around... “

“God, yeah, you’re right.” Lena hands her a bottle. Andrea shoots her a grateful smile. “I didn’t even think about that.”

“Does that make Kara a nun?”

Lena smirks, arches a brow. “If Kara’s a nun, then she’s a very, _very_ bad one.”

Andrea snorts again. She redistributes the pillow pile Lena made, settling down on the bed and pulling Lena down beside her and positioning them both so she can curl around her like a shell. “Thank you,” she says quietly into Lena’s (very messy) hair.

“For what?” Lena asks through a yawn.

There are a million potential answers to this- romantic, flirty, dirty, funny-, but the one Andrea goes with is, “For always being my best friend.”

Lena turns around, smiles. "You're such a softie."

And she is, but how dare she say it aloud. "Oh, I'll show you who's _soft_ ," Andrea rumbles, jerking Lena closer by the hips.

And then they're off again.

_day four_

Lena’s still dead to the world when Andrea wakes up the next morning, feeling loose-limbed and happy. She carefully extricates herself, pulling on a pair of slacks and a blue blouse that she'd found in her closet a few weeks ago before trooping off to the kitchen.

She freezes momentarily when she sees Kara at the counter, sipping coffee and scrolling on her tablet. She was hoping for a non-awkward morning. But as soon as the blonde sees her, the same smile as always crosses her face. Her pattern of shirts featuring food-themed puns continues, today’s reading _‘All That and Dim Sum’_ with a basket of smiling cartoon dumplings on it.

“Morning! You want some coffee?”

With no real other option (and far too proud to duck back into the bedroom now that she's been spotted) Andrea straightens her spine and crosses the room. “Please.”

Kara grins, filling the same red mug Andrea’s been drinking out of all week and passing it over. She opens her mouth before a strange look crosses her face and she snaps it closed. At Andrea's questioning look, she huffs a laugh. "Sorry, I was about to say something awkward and reveal what a suburban dad I am in the process. Ignore me."

Andrea cocks a brow. "Well now I have to know."

"Really? You're really gonna make me?" When the only response is an expectant gaze over the rim of the red mug, Kara sighs and pulls a face. "Fine. I was gonna say, 'Did you kids have fun?'"

Andrea manages to not choke on her coffee. Barely. She swallows carefully and sets the mug on the counter. “Ah.”

“Like I said, awkward dad behavior. Sorry.” Kara’s very red and looking anywhere but at Andrea.

“I’m the one who asked.” There’s a beat before Andrea smirks again. “You don’t actually want me to answer that, do you?

“I do not.” 

Andrea chuckles despite herself. "What's on your docket for today?" she asks, trying to be friendly. She can be friendly, she has at least two friends.

(Granted, she’s dating one and the other is on another continent, but _still_.)

"Oh, just gotta talk to some people, go over audio recordings I need, do some writing. Nothing too awful. How about you?" 

“Video conference with investors. With this whole… outbreak, we won’t be rolling out some products we’d planned to release, and we’ve had to postpone a new platform announcement.”

“So you get the dubious pleasure of telling a bunch of rich people to be patient. That sounds _awesome_.”

Andrea huffs a laugh. “Something like that. It’s definitely not my favorite part of the job.”

“I bet.” Kara eyes her, an unreadable expression on her face. "Okay, this is gonna be awkward, but I've gotta say something before I explode."

"What?" Andrea asks, fully prepared for something unpleasant to happen. _'So much for friendly…'_

"Sorry, it's nothing bad, just- thank you, for providing me with proof that Lena totally steals my clothes."

Andrea frowns. "Excuse me?"

And Kara has the nerve to wink. "Nice shirt."

Andrea looks down, confused, at her shirt, which appears to be a normal sleeveless blouse patterned with….

_tiny, smiling sushi rolls._

This is _absolutely_ not her shirt.

Andrea clears her throat, fights a rising blush. "Oh. Well, that's…"

"It's fine," Kara laughs. "Looks good on you, actually. I'm just happy that this is finally good enough evidence that she steals my stuff. I mean, unless you took that boundaries talk _really_ seriously and like, raided my closet."

Andrea smirks. "You caught me. It was either this or the one with the dancing ice cream cones."

Because if anyone owns such a shirt, it's Kara Danvers.

Kara nods, fighting to look serious and contemplative as she fixes the collar of 'Andrea's' shirt, the edge of a calloused thumb brushing against her neck. "I think you made the right choice, then, 'cause blue is _definitely_ your color." Her gaze shifts to something over Andrea's shoulder and she smiles, blue eyes sparkling behind her glasses. "Hey, babe. Coffee?"

Evidently Lena nods, because Kara turns away and starts fixing another cup. Lena is not, and never has been, a morning person, so the sight of her, disheveled and squinting grumpily behind her glasses isn't exactly surprising. She steps up beside Andrea and leans heavily against her side, snagging the mug she'd left on the counter and drinking from it.

"Good morning, thief," Andrea huffs at her, pointedly stealing her coffee back and holding it out of Lena's reach.

Lena tips her head back and _pouts_ , eyes going big and watery and lower lip jutting out. It might even tremble.

"Goddammit," Andrea sighs, passing the mug back. 

Lena hums happily, planting an open-mouthed kiss under her jaw and drinking deeply.

Kara laughs, pressing a fresh mug into Andrea's hands almost immediately. "She does that. Not with me, because-"

"Because you're gross and drink liquid candy," Lena grumps, breaking into a scrunch-faced smile when Kara presses a kiss to her cheek.

"I was actually gonna say because you're _spoiled,_ but hey, whatever helps you sleep at night, babe." She successfully dodges Lena's half-hearted swipe and grins. "And _speaking_ of thievery, how do you like Andrea's shirt?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WE DID IT, TEAM
> 
> As my buds know, I don't generally write smut. Mostly like... smut adjacent, or a goofy fade to black, so this was a definite first for me and I hope it didn't suck! 
> 
> Love to hear from you all, so yell at me down below or over on tumblr, where I am @deadbiwrites
> 
> Stay safe, stay healthy, love you all!
> 
> Also, big thanks to Anna for letting me yell my crackheaded ideas at her day and night. 
> 
> EDIT: I've been informed that Jiro Dreams of Sushi isn't on Netflux anymore BUT you should still go watch it


	2. Chapter 2

_day eight_

Kara didn’t always like running. In fact, she used to hate it. She’d resented the hell out of Jeremiah for dragging her out of bed before dawn to accompany him and Alex on their morning runs. Had argued that it was garbage that she was being forced to do this, that he wasn’t her father and he had _no_ right to make her do anything, yelled in her uniquely jumbled mix of Kryptonese and English until she was red in the face and had woken up everyone in the house.

Running after those types of outbursts had been an exhausting experience, in more ways than one.

But still, he’d gotten her up every day, shaking her gently and presenting her with a mug of hot chocolate, pleasant and firm even in the face of her unending anger and surliness. Day after day, rain, snow, or shine. Alex never put up too much of a fuss about it- she was an athlete, and took the conditioning for what it was (though she _certainly_ let Kara know that her ‘bitching and moaning’ was a distraction she neither wanted nor needed- and Kara felt much the same about Alex in general).

But eventually, it was just part of her routine. Wake up, hot drink, run. One day, she’d even woken up especially early so that when Jeremiah had flipped on the lights in the kitchen, she’d been sitting on the counter, sipping at her hot chocolate, waiting. He’d nearly jumped out of his skin, and then laughed so hard he had to sit on the floor.

It was the first time Kara had played a joke in… she doesn’t even know how long.

He’d grinned at her, wiping tears from his eyes, and said, _“I_ knew _you were funny.”_

She'd hated it a little less after that, though she kept up her complaining. For tradition, if nothing else.

One day, he didn't come in to wake them. She’d woken up to the sound of birds outside her and Alex’s window and the sun on her face. She'd trooped downstairs to find Eliza and Alex, shell-shocked on the couch, a sorrowful policeman across from them.

She knew it shouldn't shock her, anymore. The loss. But it's like losing Jeremiah booted her back to square one of her grief for her family, with the additional weight of another dead father.

The day after the funeral, she’d heard Alex rustling around before the sun was up, throwing on clothes and tiptoeing downstairs. She’d returned a few minutes later, red-eyed, exhausted, a mug of hot chocolate in her shaky, outstretched hands, and she and Kara had gone for their normal run. 

Kara hadn't complained. 

It’s the first thing she and Alex had ever willingly done together, and they’d run together every day until Alex went away to college. And then they’d started up again when Kara had moved to National City. And Kara never stopped in all the time in between. 

So now, it’s second nature for Kara to slip out of bed before the sun is up, press a kiss to Lena’s wild hair and pull on a pair of shorts, bra, hoodie, and running shoes, and dart off into the cool morning air. She sets her earbuds to their noise-cancelling setting, but just for the white noise. She likes the quiet- so much of her life is always up in the air- what city or country or continent she finds herself on changes day-to-day, and she never really knows what the day will bring. So it’s grounding, in a way, to start every day with a run. Sometimes, she has to take what she can get, and run laps around a hotel if the place she finds herself in is too dangerous to wander alone. It connects her to Alex, to Jeremiah, to the family that’d saved her.

Kara runs until she can feel that familiar, tingling energy start to dissipate, until she can feel herself settle into the day, and then she starts back toward home. She jogs up her front steps, stretching out her neck and shoulders as she unlocks the door. She kicks her shoes off, rounding the corner to the kitchen to start brewing coffee before hopping in the shower like she always does, only to find Andrea standing there, glaring at the coffee machine. 

Kara jumps, pressing a hand to her chest. "Holy crap, you scared me!" she chuckles breathlessly. 

Andrea smirks. "I see that." She looks Kara up and down, eyes lingering a bit as Kara swipes sweat from her face. "Go for a run?”

“No, I’m just naturally sweaty,” Kara jokes. “I sleep in the bathtub, we just hose it down in the morning.” When Andrea huffs at her, she grins. “What are you doing up so early? It’s barely even light out.”

“Meeting with the offices in Buenos Aires. Or, a call, I guess. I was trying to make myself some coffee, but-”

“But my fancy machine is dumb and bad?” Kara guesses.

Andrea chuckles despite herself. “You caught me just as I was about to smack it, truth be told.”

Kara’s horrified, stepping between Andrea and her baby. “ What?! How d- _smack_ it- don’t you run a _tech_ company?!”

“You need to be an engineer to work this thing!” Andrea protests, throwing her hands up. “I don’t even know how to turn it on!”

Kara snickers, eyes glinting mischievously. “It takes a delicate touch, y’know? Finesse. You’ve really gotta ease it in to get the motor running...”

“Oh, fuck off.” Andrea’s eyes widen when she registers what she’s said, and she bites her lip as if bracing for something, but Kara barks out a laugh.

“I can definitely tell you and Lena have known each other forever- she says the same thing whenever I’m ‘being a shitter,’” she laughs, affecting a (very poor) imitation of Lena’s mixed Irish-American accent.

“That sounds about right,” Andrea agrees with a fond smile. “Can’t even count how many times she’s said that to me.”

“Same. Usually when I deserve it.”

“Usually?”

Kara turns to see Lena lingering in the hallway with a warm, sleepy smile, hair still tangled and shirt hanging off one shoulder. “Hey, sweetheart. Did we wake you up?”

She shrugs, stepping into the room and leaning against Andrea. “I was just dozing when I heard talking. Didn’t want to miss anything important. Where’s the coffee?”

“Andrea was just complaining about my child, actually.”

Lena huffs grumpily, eyeing the appliance in question with unconcealed loathing. “I hate that thing,” she tells Andrea. “It’s been in my kitchen for over a year, and I have no idea how it works.”

“Because you won’t read the instructions!” Kara laughs.

“I don’t read Italian!”

Kara shrugs. “Sounds like a you problem, babe.”

“If you’d just let me take it apart a _little_ …”

“Absolutely not.”

“If that machine didn’t make perfect coffee, I’d scrap it for parts,” Lena grumbles. “I’d sell all that shiny copper and buy you a Mr. Coffee.”

“Mm. But it does, so you won’t.”

“For now.”

Kara huffs at her, bussing her cheek with a kiss. “Go sit, I’ll make you both a cup before I shower.”

Kara settles into her ritual, measuring out the grounds, tapping them into place, pouring the water and fiddling with the levers and dials. It’s one of her favorite things about being home, being able to make Lena coffee in the morning- almost a throwback to her own memories of her mornings as a kid. And of all her toys, this particular contraption is her pride and joy, an Italian import that she fusses over like a mother hen.

When the machine starts burbling pleasantly, she hums in satisfaction and turns to see Lena giving Andrea a gentle, lingering kiss.

It’s another thing in her life that should be strange, probably, seeing the woman she loves kissing someone else in their kitchen. She’s never actually seen Lena kiss someone else, now that she thinks about it. Well, Kelly, once, on a dare. But that’s not quite the same thing. That’d been a joke, done amid much wine and gales of laughter and loud protests from Alex for Lena to stop trying to steal her woman.

But not like this. This is clearly not a joke. This is something soft, and lasting, and… _old_. No, old isn’t the right word…

Comfortable. It’s comfortable, and familiar, even if it’s completely foreign to her.

Like, Kara’s seen Lena like this with her, a lot. Most of the time, even. It’s weird for her to see Lena _not_ like this. It throws her, on the rare occasions that she visits L-Corp on a bad day and Lena is in full CEO mode, walls up and eyes cool and none of her usual warmth seeping through. Usually those days precede a night where Lena comes home, lets the mask drop, and melts into Kara like it’s been 12 years instead of 12 hours. Tells her all about whatever horrible thing had put her into crisis-containment mode, and Kara does her level best to pull Lena back to feeling as safe and secure and _loved_ as possible, and she always gets this _look_ when Kara gets it right (and even when she gets it wrong but she’s _trying_ ), this soft, surprised smile. Like she didn’t think Kara would be there when she got home, and it’s so good to see her there, to know that she’s home, that she can finally just… be.

It fills Kara with a strange sort of feeling that she can’t quite find the correct word for.

She’s not seen Andrea even close to that. 

Like, sure, she’s warmed up some, since they had that talk last week about boundaries. She’s starting to make jokes, and to take up a bit of space in the house, but she’s always cautious, like she’s going to be sent packing if she toes too close to whatever lines she thinks are drawn up. She’s even laughing and smiling a bit when _Kara_ makes jokes, or tells stories. But Kara’s never seen her just…

Happy.

And she so clearly is, is the thing- they both are, twisted toward each other on their stools in the hazy morning light, half-smiling and sleepy and

Comfortable.

It’s a facet of this whole… arrangement she never lets herself think much about. She was always a little worried, that maybe deep down, she wasn’t okay with this like she thought, that _she’d_ end up hurting Lena because it isn't okay. 

But that’s not… It makes her happy, to see them like that. 

She’s _happy_ , and it’s such a _relief_ she almost-

Kara blinks herself out of her daze as they part, turning back to the machine to hide how weirdly emotional she just got. “Okay, that should do it. Um, the red mug is- well, you guys know. I’m gonna hit the showers.”

“Thanks, Kara,” Andrea smiles, and Kara can tell it’s not really a smile fully for her, that the warm openness of it is a remnant of whatever Lena's sparked. The realization makes Kara a little sad. “I’ll make sure she doesn’t break anything.”

Kara grins reflexively and offers a dorky salute before hurrying off to the bathroom.

_day ten_

“Kara?”

She blinks, tipping her head back at looking up to see her girlfriend’s upside-down face. Lena’s hovering over her, a small, concerned smile playing at her mouth. “Hey.”

“Hi. You were a million miles away. You alright?”

Kara grins and nods, eyes fluttering closed as Lena ducks to press a soft kiss to her forehead. “Yeah. Just feeling a little off.”

Lena hums. bending further over the back of the couch, massaging Kara’s shoulders and nosing gently at her neck. “Worried about Alex?”

Kara nods. Her sister is five months pregnant and probably working herself to exhaustion at the hospital in National City. Kara had offered to let her and her wife stay with them, but Alex had flatly refused, saying she was fine and people needed her help or they’d die. And granted, Alex is an amazing doctor, but Kara still hates it. “Her and Kelly and the baby. I’m trying to keep my head up, and everything, because I don’t wanna be all gloom and doom because that’s not how I’m built. And Andrea’s here, and she’s so far from home and her family that it seems not fair to make a stink that I can’t see my sister for a few weeks when she _literally_ can’t get home at all.”

“I know, darling. But you know Alex is fine- she facetimes you almost every day, and they test the staff there constantly.”

Kara does know these things. That doesn’t mean she has to like them. “Yeah…”

“Knowing doesn’t help, though,” Lena surmises.

“Not really.”

Lena gives her shoulders a firm squeeze. “It doesn’t help me either,” she admits. “What can I do?”

Kara shrugs helplessly. “Dunno. There’s not much _to_ do, y’know?”

“That’s the worst part about this whole thing- _I_ can’t actually do anything but throw money at it. It’s making me a little crazy.”

Kara nods. Lena’s… she always sees right through her, in the best way. Still, she feels the need to reassure her. “You donated an _insane_ amount of money and resources to fight this. You’re doing a lot.”

“Knowing doesn’t help,” Lena reminds her with a soft smile. 

"Yeah, yeah," Kara chuckles. "I just… you're doing your thing, and Alex and Kelly are doing theirs, and Andrea's probably doing _something_ , and I feel like I'm just… standing still," Kara admits quietly. "I want to help, but I don't know _how_. I don't feel like I have anything real to contribute, aside from money."

"Money helps," Lena tells her. "It helps a lot."

"I know that, in my head," Kara says, taking Lena's hand in hers and rapping her knuckles against her breastbone. "It's a little muddier down here."

Lena hums. “How about a distraction? I think we could both use one.”

Kara huffs a laugh. “I’m _flattered_ , babe, but-”

“I meant a swim,” Lena chuckles, kissing her on the cheek and standing up. "You say you get your best ideas in the shower- a pool must amplify that, right?”

A slow smile spreads over Kara’s face. “Really?”

Lena shrugs, smiling slightly. “I don’t see why not. It’s not like we have many other options for entertainment, so… I think we can open up the pool a bit earlier than we’d planned."

There are several reasons they’d moved to the suburbs- space, privacy, noise, safety… And there are many reasons they’d chosen this house in particular, but one of the main selling points in Kara’s eyes had been the large swimming pool in the backyard (well, that and the stone pizza oven on the deck).

Lena had balked at the idea of a pool, said they were expensive (Kara had snorted aloud at that) and took too much upkeep. But Kara had sworn up and down that she’d be the one to take care of the pool, that she missed living so close to the beach because now she rarely had the chance to swim without driving for over an hour. It honestly hadn’t taken much for Lena to agree, and at the end of the day, they owned a house and Kara was plotting how many parties she could reasonably throw that summer.

By the time they’d moved in, it was too cold to swim much, so they’d closed up the pool for the winter.

But now…

Kara whoops, vaulting over the back of the couch and sweeping Lena into a hug as she laughs. “You always know how to cheer me up,” she murmurs, nuzzling against Lena’s neck.

“Back at you,” Lena says fondly. “I checked all the levels and everything, so go change.”

“Yes ma’am!”

Kara hurries to their bedroom, quickly swapping out her comfortable sweats for her bikini. She scrambles back out to the hallway, only to collide bodily with Andrea, who’s just walking out of the office. “Oh, crap!” She manages to grab Andrea and steady her before they both fall. “I am _so_ sorry, are you okay?”

“I’m alright,” Andrea assures her. She looks Kara up and down, quirking a brow. “Was I… interrupting something?”

“No! No, not at all. Lena just surprised me- with the pool! She opened up the pool, as a surprise, because- just because.”

Andrea hums, eyes fixed slightly over Kara’s shoulder and face a bit red. “I didn’t realize you had a pool.”

“Yeah! It’s, well we closed it for the winter because Lena was like, _convinced_ I was gonna get pneumonia, or something, so- oh, shoot, we never did like, a tour, did we? Sorry. D’you have a second?” Andrea shrugs, which Kara takes as agreement. “Okay, so, obviously, that’s the office. The desk that’s a hot mess 24/7 is-”

“Lena’s,” Andrea finishes. She grins over at Kara before clearing her throat and averting her eyes. “She was the same way in school, used to get into a lot of trouble.”

“I have _no_ idea how she ever finds anything,” Kara chuckles. “Anyway, the one there is mine- if you ever need a _clean_ surface to work on, feel free.” She leans a bit closer. “I keep the good weed in the bottom drawer.”

Andrea snorts. “Good to know.”

Kara grins and continues to the next door in the hallway. “Alright, so, this is our room. It’s… pretty normal? I think? I dunno, but here it is.”

Andrea steps carefully over the threshold, studying the room. It’s one of Kara’s favorite rooms in the house, light and airy and _peaceful_ , exactly what she wants to come home to after weeks on the road. 

“I like the color,” Andrea offers. “And the skylight is nice, too. Right over the bed, that must be a nice view.”

“Thanks! Lena wanted green because it’s supposed to be relaxing, but I still wanted it to be light, so this was our compromise. And I keep trying to get her to let me put a telescope up there, but no dice so far.”

Andrea snorts. “Good luck with that one.”

"And _that_ is our closet, where all of her thievery takes place."

"Well that's your own fault, then- sharing a closet with your smaller girlfriend just means she doubles her wardrobe," Andrea points out.

Kara laughs in spite of herself. "That's sadly very true. And thank you for giving that shirt back by the way, even if it did look nice on you. It's one of my favorites and it was driving me crazy that I couldn't find it.”

“No problem.”

Kara’s struck with a brilliant idea. “Hey, do you wanna swim? Lena, um, doesn’t, she mostly just keeps me company while I do laps. Says the chlorine messes up her hair, or something.”

A soft, sad smile crosses Andrea’s face briefly. "That sounds about right.”

They both know why Lena doesn’t swim. 

Kara clears her throat. “Anyways, it’s a nice pool, and like, it’d be nice to get out of the house for a bit, y’know?”

“I didn’t bring anything-”

“That’s okay, you can probably borrow something.”

“I don’t think we’re the same size,” Andrea says, looking Kara up and down again pointedly before looking away.

“Hm, maybe not,” Kara mutters, walking over to the closet and opening the door, Andrea trailing carefully behind her. “You’re definitely bustier than me, so mine won’t work…” Andrea snorts, and Kara whirls. “Not- not in a creepy way, I just, um, noticed. That you were... Yeah.”

Andrea’s doing a valiant job of fighting a smirk. “You _noticed_.”

“I mean, you sorta stretched out my shirt, so…”

A sharply raised eyebrow. “Are you calling me fat?”

“No!” Kara yells. “No, just, you’re curvier than me. I’m like, a twig. But like, you’re built like Lena, just a little taller. And Lena’s curvy, and she’s like the hottest person I’ve ever- _crap_ . I’m-” Kara puts her burning face in her hands. “I _swear_ I can speak like a human person...”

Andrea laughs, then. Like, a real, big laugh from her gut. “No, you’re doing _great_ , I can see how you won Lena over.”

"Well that makes one of us," Kara groans, eliciting more laughter. “What I _meant_ to say is that I bet you and Lena are around the same size, as far as bikinis go. You can probably just borrow one of hers.”

“Probably,” Andrea drawls. 

Kara looks up and sighs. “What are the odds we can forget… literally all of that?”

“Slim to none.”

“Cool.” Kara digs around in a drawer, sifting through silky underthings in search of Lena’s spare suit. 

One pair falls on the floor, and Andrea picks them up, tossing them lightly at Kara. “You sure you know where it is?”

“I mean... I _think_ so?”

Andrea groans. “Kara, that’s not what-”

The closet door swings open, and Lena cocks an eyebrow, trying not to smirk at their startled, guilty expressions. “Is this a panty raid? Because the sexy ones are in the next drawer down. If you run them up a flagpole, though, you’re _both_ sleeping on the couch.”

Kara huffs, and Andrea rolls her eyes. “Har-har.”

“I have to say, Andi, I haven’t seen you this deep in a closet since you were 15,” Lena teases. “Ah, memories…”

Andrea barks out a laugh, flipping a rude gesture at Lena. “Same to you, honey. Kara was giving me a tour of the house.”

“And that tour included my underwear…?”

“I mean, it’s nothing we haven’t seen before,” Kara says, offering a sly grin. 

Lena’s smirk turns slightly predatory. “That’s what _you_ think…”

Andrea rolls her eyes again. “Kara asked if I wanted to swim. We were trying to find your bikini.”

“Sadly, I’m wearing it.”

 _‘Boy, is she ever…’_ Kara’s always prided herself on being an evolved, non-drooling, non-idiot, but every time she sees Lena in- scratch that, any time she sees Lena in _general_ , all that goes out the window. The sinful black bikini she’d gotten for their trip to Cabo for Alex and Kelly’s wedding is no exception. In fact, it turns Kara into something more closely resembling the cartoon wolf whose eyes bug out and whose tongue unrolls like a carpet. She’s very proud of herself for not doing anything stupid, like howling, or yelling _‘BOOBS’_ while Lena and Andrea are apparently having an actual human conversation.

“...have a spare suit though, right?”

“Somewhere, yeah. Here, move over, Kara.” She rifles through the drawer, emerging with the desired items in a matter of moments. “It _should_ fit, at least well enough for our purposes.” 

Andrea chuckles. “Be right back.”

Lena turns to Kara with a smug little smile as Andrea leaves, running her hands up the plane of Kara’s stomach, over her breasts, and up to loop around her neck. “That suit looks good on you,” she murmurs, nails scratching lighty at the nape of Kara’s neck.

“Thanks. Got it for that trip to Greece.”

“Mm. It’s a good color. Brings out your pretty eyes.”

Kara grins, bending slightly to press her lips to Lena’s in a soft kiss. “Yours looks good on you too, babe.”

“I assumed, since you were staring the entire time I was talking.”

“Bet it’d look even better off of you,” Kara teases, biting back a laugh when Lena groans.

 _“Terrible,”_ Lena deadpans. “I swear, if I wasn’t madly in love with you…”

“Good thing you are, then.”

“Good thing,” Lena agrees, rising up onto her toes to kiss Kara again.

There’s a knock on the closet door, and Andrea steps back in. “It fits.”

_‘It… it definitely fits.’_

Andrea _also_ looks very good in a bikini.

“You finally caught up,” Lena teases her affectionately. “Congratulations on the boobs.”

Andrea slaps at her with a grin. “Well it was either you or the statue, there.”

Kara’s brow furrows. “I’m… sorry?”

“You should be. Go put a shirt on,” Andrea deadpans. “Some of us are human.”

Lena snorts. “The first time she took her shirt off in front of me, I yelled at her. Like, _yelled_. Just on instinct. She started apologizing and putting it back on.”

“I thought I’d upset you!” Kara defends, face flushed at the attention as she crosses her arms over her stomach.

“I had to tackle her to get her to stay.”

“Uh, I recall that I _let_ you tackle me.”

“Yeah, sorry, _querida_ , if you knocked her over, she fell on purpose,” Andrea laughs, poking Kara in the bicep and frowning at the resistance. “Jesus Christ. Stop flexing.”

“I’m not!” Kara tenses her arm, flexing properly to show her. Andrea’s eyes widen. “See?”

Andrea pokes at her again and scowls. “Ridiculous.”

“Quit flirting with my girlfriend,” Lena says lightly.

“I’m not!” they defend together, stepping apart.

Lena’s smile is a bit too knowing as she hums. “Sure.”

Lena slathers herself in almost a solid inch of sunscreen, getting both Kara and Andrea laughing.

“Casper doesn’t tan,” Andrea stage whispers to Kara. “She boils like a crab…”

“I am _Irish_ ,” she reminds them crossly. “Not Argentinian, not-”

“What, Eastern European?” Kara laughs. “ _Literally_ right around the corner from where actual vampires are supposed to live? You have no excuses.”

“Rude,” Lena sniffs. 

“Aw,” Kara coos. 

“Pouting again,” Andrea observes from her claimed deck chair.

“She is. I’d give her a kiss, but I’m pretty sure with all that sunscreen on her I’d just, like… slide off.”

Andrea cackles, and Lena very calmly flips them off. “I’m breaking up with both of you. Get out of my house.”

“Uh, excuse you, this is _my_ house, mooch,” Kara laughs.

“Count it as alimony.”

“I’m… pretty sure that that’s not how that works.”

“It definitely isn’t,” Andrea snorts.

“Go jump in a lake.”

Kara grins. “Yes, ma’am!” She takes a running start and curls into a ball just before she hits the water, resurfacing with a whoop. She swims lazily back toward where Lena and Andrea are lounging. “How was that?”

“I give that a seven. It lacked style,” Lena says, not looking up from her book.

“You slipped a bit on the jump. Six.”

“Oh, good point. 4/10.” 

“Hey, you can’t change your score!” Kara laughs.

“I can and I did.” Lena lowers her sunglasses, ogling Kara shamelessly as she pushes herself up out of the pool. “But I am willing to amend it again, given proper persuasion…”

Kara feigns shock. “Miss Luthor, I am a good and fair cannonballer. I will not sleep my way to good scores.”

Lena shrugs, sliding her glasses back into place and turning the page in her book. “2/10.”

“Hey!”

“Jesus, just make out already,” Andrea groans. 

Kara grins, spreading her arms wide and stepping toward Lena. “Hug?”

“You’re _soaked_.”

Another step. “Hug?”

“No. You’re all wet.”

“You’ve never complained before,” Kara points out. “Hug?”

Andrea snorts. “She makes a point…”

“ _No_.”

“Hug,” Kara decides, swooping in and laying on top of Lena.

She yelps, holding her book out to the side to avoid Kara getting water on it. “You're _freezing_!” she yells, laughing and wrapping Kara in a hug despite herself.

“I forgot a towel,” Kara informs her. 

“We have those inside. Just through that door.”

Kara hums, relaxing further into Lena’s embrace. “You’re softer.”

“And you’re _cold_ ,” Lena chides, setting her book aside and rubbing Kara’s goosebumped body vigorously. "Either get back in the water, or go dry off.”

Kara grumbles, but hops back in the pool anyway (and refuses to admit that Lena is right- the warm water is _much_ more pleasant that the cool early-spring air), swimming around for a bit before clambering out again and wringing out her hair over the small of Lena’s back and receiving a smack on her very wet butt for her trouble.

“Oh, harder,” Kara jokes.

Lena smirks up at her. “That’s _my_ line.”

"Can confirm," Andrea deadpans, raising a hand.

Kara laughs, dancing out of Lena's reach as she runs off to the house, the sound of Lena and Andrea bickering fondly following her.

In spite of everything and all her worries and anxieties and the sorry state of the world, Kara feels like this was actually a pretty good day.

_day fourteen_

“No, I know that’s what you guys want, but the thing is that I can’t get there right now.”

_“Well, we were told-”_

Kara groans, pacing around the sofa in the living room, barely containing her agitation. “I understand what you were told- I was the one who told you I’d be in Istanbul. But- not to be rude- there’s sort of a _pandemic_ happening. I can’t get to _Toronto_ , let alone Turkey.”

_“Miss Danvers, you know we’re a fan of yours. Obviously you have to know that. But-”_

“But nothing,” Kara interrupts, fed up. “I get that you guys are in a bind, okay? And I hate to be a jerk, but you’re clearly not getting this any other way, so I guess I’ll be a jerk; I. Cannot. Give you. Anything.”

Sensing he’s pissed her off, he backpedals, tries for placating. _“Miss Danvers-”_

“No, y’know what? When Amy gets into the office, have _her_ call me- she’s apparently the only one of you with a lick of sense.” Kara hangs up the phone and tosses it onto the loveseat before dropping onto the sofa.

“Rough day at the office?”

She parts the fingers covering her face enough to see Andrea hovering nearby. Kara offers a wry smile. “How could you tell?”

“The yelling was a bit of a giveaway,” Andrea says, looking a bit sheepish. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to listen in, but-”

“But I was yelling,” Kara sighs. “Sorry. Just some trouble with a deadline I was supposed to meet for a piece I’m working on.”

Andrea frowns, the scar between her brows deepening when they draw together. “Surely with what’s going on, they can make an exception…?”

“Yeah, you’d think, but the guy I was talking to was a real-”

“Dick?”

“-butthead,” Kara snorts. “I usually deal directly with my editor, but she’s not in the office right now, so-”

“So you get an underling,” Andrea surmises.

Kara wobbles her hand back and forth. “Something like that.”

Andrea hums thoughtfully. “Anything I can help with?”

“I doubt it, but thanks. That dude was just an idiot. I can’t be in Turkey right now, y’know? I mean, I _was_ , but I was lucky to get a plane home, I’m not about to chance it again just because they don’t wanna push a deadline back in the middle of a global health crisis.”

This, apparently, is interesting. “Really?”

Kara nods tiredly. “Yeah, it was a hot mess. I was supposed to be there for like, three weeks, but I’d barely been there two days when stuff started going crazy, and Lena was _not_ having the idea of me staying put.”

 _Literally_ was not having it. Had chartered a flight for Kara and whatever stranded Americans and Canadians she could find and had had them all back on US soil within 24 hours of the first rumors of closing borders.

“She mentioned that you travel a lot.”

This strikes Kara as a bit odd- her entire _thing_ is travelling-, but she pushes on. “I do, yeah. Usually I really love it, but sometimes… sometimes it’s scary, being so far from home. I mean, I’m sure you get that.” Andrea hesitates, but nods. “Exactly. And I just- I love what I do, but it’s hard to not be home.” 

“I do understand that,” Andrea agrees. “Better than most.”

“I figured.”

“Why not see if you can find another position at CatCo? One that doesn’t require you to travel so much?” Andrea offers. “Or even somewhere else? You’re a _fantastic_ cook, you could be working for a magazine that specializes in food. I know a few people in publishing, I could make a few calls?”

Kara blinks as she tries to puzzle out whether Andrea is making some sort of elaborate joke. But as more time passes and Andrea’s sincerity doesn’t waver, it dawns on her that Andrea has _absolutely_ no idea who she is. Unbidden, Kara’s eyes dart to the shelf where all her books are tucked in among those of Anthony Bourdain, Dave Chang, and Ruth Reichl. All five of her published books.

Her New York Times bestselling books.

_All five of them._

Andrea thinks…

Oh _no_.

“... I get that you enjoy travelling, but if you were able to stay safer, and maybe not have to deal with that sort of behavior- well, I’m more than happy to…”

 _‘What does she know, what does she know, oh, god, Lena said she told Andrea I was a writer, I’ve mentioned working part-time at CatCo… she probably thinks I’m like, someone who writes those little ‘What Kind of Shark are You?’ quizzes. Oh no. Oh_ no _…’_

And Kara cannot figure a graceful way out of this. Can’t. Because there’s no good way to say, _‘Hey, I probably screen those other publishers’ calls, but thank you. Also, you should Google me, and then follow me on Instagram. My 8 million_ other _followers would get a kick out of this.’_

Yup. No good way to say _literally_ any of that, and Andrea is just genuinely trying to be nice and helpful and supportive, and now she's looking at Kara expectantly, so all Kara can do is smile awkwardly and say, “Thank you, for the offer. I um… I'm generally pretty happy with my job, just a bad day, y’know? But seriously, I really, really appreciate you being willing to do that.”

Andrea shrugs, looking away. “No problem. Let me know if you change your mind.”

“I will,” Kara assures her, hoping against hope that now is not the moment Andrea’s eyes fall on her books. Sensing that Andrea’s feeling a bit… _off_ about this entire situation, and feeling a bit like she’s lied, Kara clears her throat. “Hey, I wanted to… Can I say something?”

Andrea raises an eyebrow, smirks. “More awkward dad behavior?”

“Maybe, but I hope not,” Kara chuckles. “I just wanted to say, um… like I said, I have to travel a lot. Like, constantly. And I love it, but I always really hate leaving Lena here alone. Like, I _hate_ it. And it- hmm. How do I say this?” Kara thinks for a moment, trying to dredge up the right words. “It makes me feel a lot better, knowing you’re around. Like, I knew you were around, but I didn’t really _know_ you, so it wasn’t… Not that I need to know you, or that you guys need my approval, or whatever! Lena’s like, her own person, and she can do her own thing, and that’s fine, it’s not _my_ business or my relationship, and I’m not saying Lena _needs_ someone around- she’s a total badass and that’s-”

“Kara.”

She laughs, more than a little self-conscious as she rubs at the back of her neck. “Right, sorry. Point is, I feel like I’ve gotten to know you, at least a little bit, over the past couple weeks, and um. I’m really grateful that she has you. Not like, that she has _somebody_ , but that she has _you_ , specifically. Because I was worried, y’know? That maybe whoever it was was just… well. I feel a lot better, knowing that it’s _you_ , and not somebody else. Because I can tell that you really love her, and I can see how happy she is with you, and how happy you are with her, and that just makes me feel a _lot_ better. So, I guess, thank you?” Kara chuckles, shaking her head. “Sorry, I know that probably _was_ awkward. I just wanted to say that. For the record.”

Andrea stares at her for a long moment. Finally, she clears her throat, adjusting the cuff of her sleeve and avoiding eye contact as she blinks rapidly. “Thank you, Kara.” She clears her throat again and shuffles toward the hallway. “I actually have another call in a few minutes, so...”

“Oh! Go go go, sorry, I didn’t mean to tie you up for so long. Thanks for letting me talk at you.”

Andrea gives her a tight smile and nod before she vanishes down the hallway, and Kara has the sinking feeling that she’s said something wrong.

Andrea ducks out of dinner _and_ hanging out that night, leaving Kara and Lena tangled on the couch watching a quirky sci-fi movie Lena’s been angling to watch for days.

Lena’s halfway through their bowl of popcorn when she realizes that Kara hasn’t grabbed more than a single handful. She turns, propping her chin on Kara’s shoulder, butting her gently on the chin with her forehead. “Hey, are you helping me eat this or not?”

“Sorry, I’m just not feeling snackish,” Kara mumbles.

Lena ducks forward, grabbing the remote and pausing the movie. At Kara’s questioning look, she huffs. “I can count on one hand the number of times you’ve turned down food in all the time I’ve known you, and three of those times the food was kale.”

“Eugh.”

“What’s going on, love?”

Kara sighs. “I got a pissed off call from Dave today.”

“Publisher drone Dave?”

“Yeah.” Kara sighs. “He was all twisted up about the fact that I’m not in Turkey.”

Lena’s good humor vanishes in an instant. “Well fuck Dave,” she snaps. “If he’s so insistent that someone be on the other side of the world when all of this is going on, he can jump-”

“Hey, hey, easy, I already chewed him out, and I’m gonna let Amy know I don’t want him near any of my projects from now on.”

“I can probably fire him,” Lena offers.

“You don’t own the publisher.”

Lena waves her phone in front of Kara’s face enticingly. “But I _could_ with literally two phone calls. One, if Cat is still awake.”

“See? Nah. Nope.” Kara grabs the phone and tosses it to the other end of the couch. “No buying my place of employment.”

Lena frowns darkly at this, but doesn’t argue. “What was Dickhead Dave mad about?”

“I said I’d need an extension until this whole thing calmed down, and apparently that was a no-go.”

“What does Cat have to say about it?”

Kara shrugs. “I didn’t wanna bother her, I know she’s spending as much time with Carter as she can right now.”

“Kara, if he’s saying the same thing to the other writers, she needs to know about it,” Lena says. “You know she’s not sanctioning that.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I’ll call her tomorrow, okay?” Kara says, kissing Lena’s forehead.

Lena hums, leaning up to kiss Kara on the lips. “Good. So what else is bothering you?”

Kara sighs. She often loves that Lena knows her as well as she does, but sometimes… “I um… I think I upset Andrea today. By accident.”

Lena’s brow furrows. “Why do you think that?”

“Oh. Um… I sorta was talking to her, and I got to thinking about stuff, and I told her that I was really glad you have her, and that she’s there for you, because I can tell how much she loves you, and how much you love her, and how happy you are together. And that I’m really glad I’ve gotten the chance to get to know her better, and like. I know my job can be dangerous, and I hate leaving you here, but it makes me feel better about it to know that you have her. That sorta thing.”

Lena blinks at her. “You said that?”

“Well, I mean, yeah. I, uh, I never said anything, because I didn’t really know how to, but… I was always kinda worried, that maybe whoever it was that you were with wasn’t… I was worried you’d get hurt,” Kara admits. “And I know you can handle yourself, and you’re strong and capable of amazing stuff, but I was really worried that whoever she was wouldn’t see that, somehow. And I’d only met Andrea once or twice, and I know you talk about her a lot and everything, but…” Kara huffs, frustrated. “I said this way better earlier, I think. Basically I told her that I was glad you were dating her, and not someone else. Because… yeah.”

Lena stares for a moment before letting out a slow breath. “Okay, a few things; one, if you feel worried about something, I want you to tell me. Especially when it’s something like that. Okay? That’s- this won’t work if you carry stuff like that and don’t let me help you.”

Kara nods, trying hard to blink away the tears she can feel welling up.

“Good. Secondly, I don’t think Andrea was upset with you.”

“But-”

“Let me finish,” Lena says gently. “Andrea hasn’t… hmm. She’s a lot like me, in a way. She spends her days arguing with old men who think they know better than she does. She has to fight, all the time, for someone to admit she’s not fucking everything up, and even then it’s resentful. She’s not used to people saying things like that to her, and I _really_ doubt she ever expected you, of all people, to say something like that.”

Kara’s brow furrows. “But it’s the truth.”

“That’s a pretty rare commodity, these days,” Lena murmurs. “Especially with you being… _you_.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Kara, you are so _good_ , and so _kind_ , it knocks _me_ off balance, and I’ve had three years of knowing you to get used to it. You’ve been through so much absolute _shit_ ; the fact that you exist at all is amazing. That you took all of your experiences, and your horrors, and your losses, and you let them make you _you_ … I’m a woman of science, but it’s a goddamn miracle.” Lena traces a thumb feather-light over Kara’s cheekbones, her chin, her lips... “You’re so full of love and light, and when you pour all that out onto someone who spends a lot of time not getting that from anyone except the person they’re dating…”

“It’s a lot,” Kara finishes quietly.

“It is, in the best possible way.”

Kara frowns, considering all of this. She looks up into Lena’s eyes. “Do you want to stay with her tonight? If she’s upset, maybe she wants some company.”

Lena smiles fondly, shakes her head. “I’ll ask her, okay?”

“Please.”

Lena kisses her again, disentangling herself and padding off to the hallway. She disappears into the guest room, and Kara shuts off the TV, stretches, and washes up a few last-minute dishes. As she’s drying the last pan, slim arms slide around her waist, and she relaxes back into Lena’s steadying embrace. “Hey there.”

“Hi. Ready for bed?”

“Yeah. How’s-”

“She’s okay,” Lena tells her. “She said to tell you thank you again.”

Kara huffs. “Dunno why. I was just being honest.”

“That’s why,” Lena chuckles. “Bed time.”

“Okay.”

Kara would like to state, for the record, that she'd had sex before meeting Lena. Lots, even.

Okay, maybe not _lots_ , but enough. A respectable amount of sex.

And she'd had no real complaints- it was, in general, a good time had by all. 

But she'd never been in love. Like, there'd been the boy she dated in high school, and the people she'd dated in college, and she'd liked them all, a lot. They were all good people, for the most part, and they liked her and were generally good to her. She even thought she'd loved one or two of them, at the time, but not in that big, stop you in the street, run through the airport, fall all over yourself sorta way. Kara's always been a sucker for romcoms, liked how over the top they were. But she'd never really _gotten_ it, that whole truly madly deeply thing that made people do dumb stuff.

And then she met Lena and…

God.

She got it, then.

Kara’d had sex before Lena. She’d never made love, though.

“Kara,” Lena sighs, arching up as Kara’s fingers drag inside her, slow and steady and sure, chasing her third- fourth?- high of the night.

“I’m right here,” Kara murmurs, mouthing at the hollow Lena’s throat and licking out at the sweat pooling there. She trails open-mouthed kisses over delicate collarbones and twists her fingers as they plunge back inside, and Lena groans, low and throaty as she meets Kara’s next thrust eagerly with her hips. Kara moves back up to hover over her, smoothing hair from her sweaty brow and peppering her face with gentle kisses. “Hang on for me, okay? I’ll get you there again, promise, just hold on.”

Lena nods, letting out a stuttering gasp as Kara’s palm grinds against her clit. “Okay. Okay, I can wait,” she says, eyes fluttering as she tries to hold Kara’s gaze.

She’s usually demanding, and honestly, Kara kinda loves that. Loves that she never has to wonder if what she’s doing is what Lena wants, is what she needs to feel good, because Lena will _absolutely_ tell her. It’s taken a lot of the stress out of sex, and Kara is _very_ grateful for that. Lena jokes all the time that she’s too much of a control freak not to boss people around wherever she goes, even in bed. And she does it in that self-deprecating sorta way that sets Kara’s teeth on edge, because it’s something she knows someone _said_ to Lena, and not in a fun, teasing way like Kara would, but in a really mean and hurtful way that probably made Lena cry before she decided to put it on and wear it like armor. And the fact that she’s so tough is another thing Kara loves.

But every once in a while, Lena makes herself putty in Kara’s hands, and wow. Nothing’s quite like that.

Because it’s a trust thing, she’s figured out. It’s Lena’s way of letting _all_ of her walls down, of showing how much she knows Kara means good things for her, that she knows that Kara won’t do anything she doesn’t like just because she _can_ , and…

It sends Kara reeling every time. Makes her even more eager to please, more desperate, somehow. Like she has to earn it more, or prove that she _can_ be trusted like this.

Whatever it is, it’s something else.

A particularly firm stroke, and Lena instinctually tugs at the ties binding her hands to the headboard, legs spreading wider and hips shifting to take Kara deeper.

God, Kara loves her.

“I’m gonna change up a little, okay? But I want you to stay still.”

Lena nods, biting down on her lip as Kara pulls her fingers from the clinging, wet heat they’d been buried in. Her green-blue eyes follow Kara’s fingers as she brings them to her lips, pupils going impossibly wider as Kara makes a show of licking and sucking them clean. “You taste so good, babe, I couldn’t resist,” Kara says quietly, dragging her spit-damp thumb across Lena’s lip to free it from her teeth. “You doing okay?”

Lena nods, leaning forward and licking out at Kara’s thumb before sucking it into her mouth, tongue swirling all around, dark eyes locked on Kara’s as her cheeks hollow.

Jesus.

Kara musters the willpower to pull the digit from Lena’s mouth, and she releases it with a wet _pop_ . Kara draws the now much _wetter_ thumb over her lips again. Lena smirks. “Good. I was thinking the blue one… Does that sound good?”

Lena nods eagerly, hips bucking up against nothing on instinct at the mention of one of their favorite toys. Kara smiles and shuffles off the bed, locating the desired items where she’d left them earlier, quickly stepping into the harness and buckling the supple leather tight around her hips and under her butt, slotting the toy (a large, slightly-curved deep blue dildo they’d gotten forever ago) into place. Kara also fits the newest addition to their (increasingly eclectic) collection to the base of the toy, a little ribbed silicone pad that’d kinda changed her whole life when Lena had gotten it on a hunch a few months ago. Sufficiently outfitted, Kara turns back to where Lena is stretched out on the bed. 

Lena’s watching her with a look that can really only be described as _hungry_ , heated gaze dragging up and down Kara’s body as she walks toward the bed with a bit of the cocky swagger that she knows drives Lena a little crazy. Kara basically never feels sexy. Like, ever, in her whole life. Cute, or strong, or even cool, sure, sometimes. But sexy?

Pfft.

Never.

So when Lena- arguably the most beautiful woman in the world- looks at Kara like she’s something _to_ look at, well.

Maybe sometimes Kara feels sexy.

She crawls back up the bed, settling heavy and unyielding between Lena’s legs. “You stayed still,” she murmurs, smiling and inhaling the heady scent of Lena’s perfume where it lingers at her pulse-point.

“You told me to.”

“You did good,” Kara praises lightly, shifting her hips so the shaft of the toy drags through Lena’s wetness and across her clit. “You’re always so good to me, so good _for_ me, you know that?” Another roll of her hips as she reaches for the bottle of lube on the nightstand.

“Probably don’t need that,” Lena chuckles breathlessly as an involuntary shudder runs down her spine, a combination of the words and sensations and _thoughts_ battering at her.

Kara shrugs, pumping some and rubbing it between her hands in an effort to warm it a bit before spreading it over the strap-on. “Better safe than sorry. Doing okay?”

Lena nods slowly, watching as Kara aligns their hips with rapt attention and whining high in her throat when Kara’s knuckles drag against her clit. “‘m okay. Just want you.”

“I’m right here,” Kara tells her. “I’ve got you. But you've gotta stay quiet.”

And she slides inside in a smooth motion, and Lena’s eyes roll back. “Oh, fuck. Fuck fuck fuck,” she chants, rasping in a shuddering breath as Kara’s hips pick up a rhythmn, so slow and steady and _relentlessly gentle_. Kara's doing this thing she knows Lena likes, where she kisses down her neck, tongue and lips working in tandem with her hips, and it makes Lena's mouth drop into a long, _loud_ moan.

Kara laughs a jittery, bouncing, “Shhh!” into her shoulder.

"The worst thing about you both being here," Lena huffs when she pulls away, groaning lowly as Kara draws out and slides immediately back in, "is that you both keep fucking telling me to be _quiet_."

Kara snorts, pressing a kiss to her sweaty cheek. "That's because you're _loud_ , babe."

 _"_ I am not lou- _fuck!_ "

Kara presses her open mouth against Lena's to muffle her yelling, shaking with laughter. But in all honesty, she's not faring much better- with every thrust, the ribbed attachment at the base grinds against her clit in the most amazing way. It’s one of her favorite things, to be able to feel Lena, in a way, to have sensation as her hips roll in and up and out, again and again. She picks her head up to look over at Lena and almost stops moving, because she looks so goddamn- 

_“Beautiful,”_ Kara pants, “God, you’re beautiful.”

She’s like some fairy queen in Kara’s bed, digging her heels into Kara’s butt on every downstroke and pulling her back in again _hard._ She’s fucking _shining_ in the moonlight, and it knoocks the air from Kara’s lungs. Her rhythm falters, and Lena’s wild eyes open.

“Why’d you stop?!” Lena hisses frantically.

Kara blinks, regains her ability to use her brain (and assorted limbs), and drives into her with renewed energy, pace increasing slowly, hips snapping forward as her thighs and abdomen _burn_ with the exertion. Lena _moans_ a “ _Thank you,”_ chants it almost, and it only spurs Kara on. She chases her own orgasm against the toy as she drives into Lena; she can _feel_ how close they both are, with Lena’s jittery, jumpy hips, and her own vision starting to blur around the edges. Kara grits her teeth and does her best push the intensifying feeling aside, determined to just make Lena feel good _one_ more time tonight. She balances on one elbow, slips the other hand between them and starts rubbing _hard_ across Lena’s clit. If she can just- No, she’s not going to be able to hold off anymore, she can feel it. 

“Lena,” she groans.

 _“Fuck!”_ Lena hisses as she arches up under Kara, legs wrapped tight as a vise around her as Lena’s hips rock of their own accord, and the friction sends Kara freaking _sailing_.

Kara’s generally very good about not dropping all heavy on Lena after they have sex. Like, she’s really good about it, knows Lena doesn’t really _love_ the sensation of being fucking _crushed_ and unable to move under someone else’s dead weight _._

Sometimes, however, Kara kinda sorta whites out for a second, and, well...

Kara drops like a stone, jittery and _exhausted_ , pressing Lena into the mattress.

In her defense, Lena’s legs are still locked around her, so it’s not like she could go anywhere even if she _was_ capable of moving. Kara decides to enjoy it, nuzzling her face against Lena’s neck in breathing in the smell of her, listening as her rapid heartbeat starts to slow down, her legs start going slack.

Lena gets to this point, every now and again, that Kara affectionately calls ‘sex-dumb’, where basic function and comprehension are beyond her. Lena’s cruder ( _‘Funnier,’ she always argues_ ) description is that Kara _literally_ fucks her brains out, but that evokes a _very_ concerning visual in Kara’s imagination. So yeah. Sex-dumb it is.

But she gets just… euphoric. Goofy and talkative and _soft_. It's one of Kara’s very favorite things.

She props herself up on her elbows and looks down at Lena, who’s staring up at her with a moony smile. “Hi, babe.”

“Hi, babe,” Lena parrots.

Kara snorts tiredly. “You okay?”

“Yeah, um. Kinda? Not sure,” Lena tells her. “Actually I'm very good, but my hands are stuck.”

Kara nods, shifting carefully to pull out of Lena. “Hang on one sec, and I’ll fix it.”

She whines at this, shifting her hips. “That was nice, though.”

“Well good, be awkward if it wasn’t,” Kara busses Lena’s cheek with a kiss as she fiddles with the buckles and tosses the harness to the floor. “Let me untie you.”

Lena smiles up at her. “I really love you, y’know,” she says dreamily. “Like, _so_ much.”

“I love you too,” Kara assures her as she starts on the ropes. “More than anything.”

Lena yawns contentedly. “Good.”

Kara slips the easy knots loose and gently massages at Lena’s wrists and arms. Lena hums happily at this, eyes slipping closed as Kara diligently works any soreness and tension from her limbs, from fingertip to shoulder, up her neck and down her ribs. She chuckles as Lena flops bonelessly onto her stomach when Kara prompts her to roll over, continuing the gentle, soothing pattern across Lena’s back, butt, and thighs, up, down, up again, working any knots loose. Finally satisfied that Lena’s good and relaxed, Kara taps her hip. “Lena.”

“No.”

“C’mon, gotta get up _real_ quick and pee and clean off a bit- you’re like, sticky and also somehow slippery.”

Lena groans, eyes clearer and limbs leaden as she regains her bearings. “Fine. But I’m gonna bitch about it like, the whole time.”

Kara grins as she helps Lena to her feet. “Deal.”

_day fifteen_

Kara comes in from her usual morning run (slightly shorter this morning, after the workout she got last night), and kicks off her shoes, intent on starting up the rest of her morning ritual. She turns the corner and stops dead.

There on the counter is her favorite blue mug, steaming, the coffee exactly the right color. The coffee machine is bubbling quietly, and she can hear the guest shower running down the hall. She sips at her coffee cautiously.

It’s not perfect, but it’s damn close.

She smiles, and takes another sip.

Andrea emerges a few minutes later, hair wet and tousled, and accepts the red mug with a careful nonchalance, thanking Kara as she always does and keeping her eyes glued to her tablet. They sit quietly, perusing their various feeds, and finally, Andrea clears her throat. “How was your run?”

Kara shrugs. “Same old, same old. More people around than usual.”

Andrea nods. “Not surprising- I know a lot of people see this as an opportunity for self-improvement.”

“More power to ‘em,” Kara chuckles.

Andrea fidgets, setting her mug down and picking it up again no less than four times. “I, um. I read some of your work.”

Kara, like every other writer on the planet, suffers from a very real craving for validation. “Oh yeah?”

Andrea nods thoughtfully. “Last night. I’m kind of embarrassed to admit that I didn’t really do any research on you...”

Kara chokes a bit on her coffee as she struggles not to laugh. “I, um. I sorta figured that out, actually.”

Andrea huffs her amusement, smiling faintly. “I bet. Was it when I was shocked you could cook, or when I offered to get you a _job_?”

Kara snorts. “The second one.”

“God. You’ve won a James Beard Award,” Andrea laughs, head dropped between shaking shoulders. “You’ve had five books on the Bestseller list.”

“I’m… sorry?”

“No, just- You have an honorary degree from the Culinary Institute of America. You were nominated for a _Pulitzer_. You are, hands down, the most famous food and travel writer in the world, and I offered to make a call to get you a job.”

“You’re making me feel _very_ self-conscious,” Kara admits with a nervous laugh. And then, because she's unable to help herself, “So, what’d you think?”

(Writers. Honestly.)

Andrea rolls her eyes, but there’s a fond half-smile on her face that usually seems to be reserved only for Lena. “Your article on the impact of the global spice trade on the flavor profiles of ‘traditional’ European dishes was amazing. I had no idea about… literally any of that.”

Kara bounces a bit in place, grinning at the mention of one of her favorite pieces. “Right? I was _mind-blown_ by the whole thing. If you ever get the chance to, _definitely_ go to a spice market, okay? Because seeing so much of it in one place is just… it’ll change your whole perspective. I went to one in India, and it was _insane_.”

Andrea hums, still smiling. “I used to go to markets with my grandmother, when I was young.”

 _“Ferias,”_ Kara says with a smile. “I went to the big one in Buenos Aires when I was there.”

Andrea lights up at the mention of her hometown. “ _Fiera de San Telmo?_ Was that the only one you went to?”

“No, there were a few other ones, but I don’t really remember the names. And I really don’t think I’ll ever get over how _big_ that one is. Pretty sure it was my first, like, outdoor market. I think I spent a whole day wandering around there and barely made a dent in it,” Kara admits sheepishly. “Alex was with me on that trip, but she ditched me halfway through to chase a pretty girl.”

Andrea grins wide, eyes sparkling. “We have those, there.”

“You do,” Kara agrees quietly. She clears her throat and smiles crookedly. “It’s too bad I didn’t know you, then. I bet you know where all the good food is.”

Andrea nods. “I do. Not that it’s hard to find- all the food back home is good.”

“Very true,” Kara agrees. “What do you miss most, as far as food?"

“I haven’t had a decent empanada in _months,_ ” Andrea grouses. “The last ones I had were fucking _soggy_.”

Kara wrinkles her nose in solidarity. “Gross.”

“Truly.”

An idea occurs, and Kara perks up. “Hey, why don’t we make some?”

“Make what, empanadas?”

Kara shrugs. “What else do we have to do, right?”

Andrea considers this and shrugs. “Fuck it. Sure.”

Kara drums the countertop excitedly, happy to have a plan for the day. “Awesome! But you’ve gotta show me how to do it right.”

Andrea quirks a brow at this. “Aren’t you supposed to be some world-class chef? Why do _I_ have to show _you_ how to make them?”

Kara rolls her eyes. “Okay, first, not a chef, food writer-”

“I’ve eaten your food, Kara. Besides, I haven’t made empanadas in like, god, 15 years...”

“ _I_ haven’t made empanadas _ever_ ,” Kara points out. “So I really do need you to show me. And don’t just be nice, I wanna do it right.”

Andrea quirks a brow. “I don’t recall _ever_ being nice to you, Kara Danvers.”

Kara nods, face serious as she sips pointedly at the coffee they both know she didn’t brew. “Of course not.”

Andrea huffs, reaching across the counter to shove at Kara lightly. “Shut up.” 

Kara just grins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More for your eyes!
> 
> Always love to hear from you, so please feel free to yell at me in the comments below or over on tumblr where I am @deadbiwrites 
> 
> Thank you, stay safe!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (So I lied, there's gonna be one more chapter after this! My bad/you're welcome)

_day twenty_

“... so I’m in this ancient truck with my cousin and his girlfriend, right, we’re soaking wet, there’s a blizzard raging outside the car, we’re in the middle of nowhere, we’re almost out of gas, no one knows where we are, no cell signal, we’re stuck dead. And then, so, _so_ slowly, the car starts to slide backward, toward the cliff- where, if you recall from earlier, there are no guard rails. And my cousin Clark, he goes, _‘Ladies, I’m so sorry to do this to ya, but neither of you can drive stick, so I need you to get out and push. Or we’re gonna fall off this mountain.'”_

Andrea’s eyes are wide, and Lena chuckles into her glass of wine- it’s one thing to read Kara’s stories, she knows, and quite another for her to tell them herself. This is also absolutely one of Kara’s favorite stories to tell, and she does so with relish.

“So we get out, and Lois and I brace against the bumper- _see babe, I remembered it's not a fender, this time_ \- and we start pushing as hard as we can. And she turns to me and goes, _‘Is this real life?’_ _-there was actually a lot of swearing involved there, but I'm cutting it because this is a family place_ -" Andrea snorts a bit of wine and coughs as she laughs, which makes Kara grin. "And I open my mouth and my feet slip out from under me and I slide toward the cliff.”

Andrea blinks, clears her throat, and takes a long sip of water. “I know you survived, and all, but… _Jesus_.”

Kara laughs deeply. “Yeah, how do you think _I_ feel? Anyways, Lois like, _dives_ after me, snags my coat and manages to drag me to my feet- which is amazing because she’s like, _tiny_. And she stops me sliding off the cliff and yells _‘Don’t do that!’_ and all of a sudden, _lights_. Blinding white light. And I swear on all that is good and holy I thought I’d freakin’ _died_ and I was _seeing the light_. Which like, at that point? With the day I’d had? Totally fine.”

Andrea barks out a laugh, and Kara grins. “But nope! These two boys wearing, like, shredded cargo shorts and muscle tanks and work boots pile out of a _massive_ pickup truck and start just _pushing_ with us as hard as they can, and by some friggin’ miracle we get the truck unstuck and Clark hops out for like, two seconds and is like, _‘Okay, one more push, and I should be able to drive.’_ so we all _push_ and he’s off like a shot. Just _gone_ up the road. So Lois and I look at each other, and she turns to the boys and goes, _'Wanna give us a ride? She’ll give you her number.’_ ”

"Okay, I like her," Andrea snorts, and Lena grins as Kara blushes. “And naturally, given that incentive …”

“They _did_ give us a ride, yeah,” Kara chuckles. “They were really nice, actually, turned down my number- apparently they were a couple. _And_ they were the boys from earlier who had weed and beer at the springs. Anyways, we get in the truck with Clark and they follow us to the gas station in case we get stuck again, and to this day I’m still kinda bummed that they didn’t stop- we were planning to buy them _so_ much beer. And so we go in, because by now we’re all like, _freezing_ from being in and out of the truck and still kinda wet from the springs, so we get this _awful_ hot chocolate from the gas station. And we’re walking out, sipping at it just to try to warm up, and Lois goes, _‘Wow, that was a hell of a birthday…’_ It was her _birthday_ , and she didn’t say anything _all day_ and we almost freaking _died_.”

Andrea’s fully laughing, now, eyes bright. “And this trip was the first time you met her?"

"First time. I was… 18? Maybe? Anyways, that's sorta how I got started with travel and writing- the food part actually came later. Huh. That trip kinda changed my life, now that I think about it…"

"Your cousin better have married her.”

Kara laughs loudly. “I told him after that that if he didn't marry her, I was going to. But he did! Just about a year ago. They’re expecting their first baby pretty soon. Lois is gonna be… an interesting mom, for sure. Her kids are never gonna get the drop on her.”

Lena points and nods her agreement. “Can attest. The first time we met, I was in a _very_ absurd situation with her, and she barely batted an eyelash.”

“Yeah, because she was _hammered_ ,” Kara laughs. "She can be kinda jealous, she probably would've kicked your ass if she was sober when she found you-"

"Hey, hey! No."

Andrea’s eyes move from Kara’s openly delighted face to Lena’s flushed one. “Okay, I don’t know anything about this, and judging by how _red_ she’s getting, I can tell it’s good.”

Kara’s smile is a bit wicked. “So it started with a big pot of marinara sauce and Lena wearing a white shirt…”

Lena groans loudly, dropping her forehead into her hand. “When I told you two I thought you’d be good friends, this is _not_ what I had in mind.”

“Really? What _did_ you have in mind?” Andrea asks, and Lena doesn’t need to look up to see that she’s smirking.

 _“Friendship,”_ Lena snarks. “Not you two teaming up on me.”

_‘Liar.’_

Kara nudges Lena’s foot with hers, earning a huff but also getting Lena to raise her head again. “Sorry, babe. I won’t tell her that one if you don’t want me to.”

“Boo,” Andrea jeers.

Lena rolls her eyes fondly. “If you don’t, she’ll just bully it out of me later…”

Kara turns to Andrea, who shrugs unappologetically. “She’s right.”

Kara huffs a laugh, and starts again, jiggling Lena’s foot with hers to get her to smile. “Okay, so she was meeting Lois and Clark for the first time, and she wanted to make them dinner. And, lucky for us, Clark had left me with a key in case they ran late…”

"And so I panic, obviously, because Kara's apparently not back yet, and it's clearly Lois pounding on the bathroom door. So not only am I a strange woman in her boyfriend's apartment, I'm a strange _naked_ woman _in his shower_. So I just said the first thing that popped into my head."

Andrea is fully cackling by this point. "I'm almost afraid to ask…"

"Oh, it's so much worse than what you're thinking," Kara snorts.

Lena sighs deeply. "I _yelled,_ _'There's a perfectly good explanation for why I'm naked in this shower- I swear I didn't fuck your boyfriend!'_ "

"Oh, honey, _no_."

"Oh, yes," Lena huffs. "And then all noises just… stop. It's dead silent. And she goes, _'I literally just have to pee, so…'_ "

Andrea and Kara are both near tears, even though Kara's heard this story again and again and was even _there_ for a good portion of it. "What did you _do_?"

"Wrapped up in a _very_ small towel and made peace with whatever god I was about to meet and unlocked the door," Lena laughs, shaking her head. "She looks me up and down, _clearly_ a little drunk, and goes _'Well hell, I'd do you too'_ and closes the door."

"And _as_ she's saying that, I get back from the hotel with a change of clothes," Kara offers. 

"A little late."

"There was traffic!" Kara defends. "Besides, it all worked out and no one died. You and Lois are like, _frighteningly_ close, now."

"We had to be! After I got dressed and she came back later for dinner, she looked at me and went, _'We have two options here, kid. We can either never talk or make eye contact again, or we can be best friends. No in between.'_ "

"And you chose to be friends?"

"Lois decided that'd be easier. And it's _very_ difficult to argue with a wine-drunk Lois Lane, trust me," Kara snorts.

"Accurate. So, yes. That's how I met Lois for the first time." Lena laughs suddenly. "After we sorted it out, she went, _'Well my original plan was to get naked and lay on the bed to surprise Clark when he got out of the shower. You're lucky I had to pee so bad.'_ And I am, because I probably would've fucking _died_ if I'd walked out of the shower to see my girlfriend's cousin's girlfriend naked and waiting for me.

"I dunno, babe, you could've been the world's first case of spontaneous human combustion."

"Always such an overachiever," Andrea teases.

Kara giggles and presses a kiss to a red cheek. "It's the Lena Luthor way."

"I hate you both."

Andrea turns to grin at Kara. “Did she ever tell you about the time she stole a horse?”

Kara’s eyes light up. “She _what_?”

“Oh, yeah,” Andrea laughs. “And she was naked at the time.”

“Okay, first of all, that horse wasn’t stolen-”

“Oh? So it was your horse?”

Lena frowns and crosses her arms over her chest. “Not _technically_ …”

Kara, meanwhile, looks utterly delighted. “Please tell me more. Please.”

“Why are we only telling embarrassing stories about me?” Lena wonders aloud.

Andrea shrugs, leaning back in her seat. “Because I’ve never done anything embarrassing in my life.”

Lena’s mouth falls open in disbelief. “I’m sorry, _what_?”

Kara snorts. “Oh, this oughta be good…”

“Name one thing I’m embarrassed about,” Andrea challenges.

Lena cocks an eyebrow at her. “Your first date.”

Andrea scoffs and turns to Kara. “I headbutted him and broke his nose by accident when he went in for a kiss.”

“Oh hey, me too!” Kara cheers, reaching across the table to high-five her.

Andrea obliges and turns to Lena with a smug expression. “Try harder, _querida_.”

“Walking into a glass door.”

Andrea snorts. “That was _you_.”

“Crashing that boat.”

Andrea cocks a brow at her. “I was giving my boyfriend a blowjob while we were sailing, and the idiot crashed the boat into the sandbar.”

“I mean, can you blame him?” Kara asks with a grin.

Andrea ponders this. “I guess not.”

Lena wracks her brain, but all the things that she knows are embarrassing for Andrea are _also_ embarrassing for _Lena_ , and the entire point of this exercise is that Lena stops getting embarrassed. Judging by Andrea’s very smug face as she sips her wine, she is well aware of this fact.

Lifelong friendships are a bitch like that.

“Okay, how about I tell one?” Kara offers. “I have plenty- pick a continent.”

“Antarctica,” Andrea smirks.

“Okay, so I was there for a month during a penguin migration with National Geographic-”

Lena grins- this is one of her favorites.

Andrea’s mouth drops open for a second before she shakes her head ruefully. “I should’ve known.”

Kara grins. “It was so cool. Pun fully intended.” Andrea boos the joke playfully, and Kara's grin stretches wider. “Anyways, we were there with National Geographic, and my buddy James-”

“Who is, to this day, halfway in love with her,” Lena stage-whispers, pulling a chuckle from Andrea and rolled eyes from Kara.

“He is _not_.”

Andrea’s gaze slides to Lena, and she laughs again at her girlfriend’s indulgent smile. “Sure, babe.”

“ _Anyways_ , we were there, and we were all bundled up and like, following this big group of Emperor Penguins. And they’d all just gotten reunited, and it was super cute and sweet. So I’m sitting on this outcrop, and suddenly, this _very_ angry penguin starts chasing me! He’s like, biting at me and my coat, and like, screaming, and just _coming at me_.” 

“Wait, wait, don’t penguins have very short legs? And they're slow. They don’t even have knees,” Andrea says.

“Uh, they _absolutely_ have knees, trust me. And even if they didn’t, it _hurts_ when they peck at you. So I start running, because what else am I supposed to do? So I end up running across a patch of ice toward the group, and this grumpy little guy is still chasing me and like, honking at me. And I turn to head back to my team, when my feet slip out from under me and I fall right on my butt,” Kara says, swatting herself on the rear for extra emphasis. “And it didn’t hurt or anything, because like I said, we were really bundled up, but as soon as I hit the ground, all the penguins made this noise, and I looked over, and it hits me- they’re _laughing_ at me. Thousands of big penguins, laughing their feathers off at the idiot who just fell on her ass.”

Andrea tips her head back and _laughs_. “Oh my god. Please don’t be lying…”

Kara points at her with a grin. “I can prove I’m not- see, one of the reasons we were there was to get footage for Disney’s movie on the Antarctic. And as soon as our cameraman saw me get up and run, he grabbed his camera and started filming me for the blooper reel they do at the end of their nature movies. Except the director thought it was so funny that it made it into the movie. So now, if you go watch that documentary, you get to see me get chased by a penguin, fall, and then get mocked by a bunch of flightless birds. And that’s not to mention all the crap I caught from _literally_ everyone the whole trip. Every time I did something even a _little_ dumb, they’d all make that same penguin honk-noise at me. Every time. For a _month_.”

Andrea and Lena are shaking, laughing so hard all that escapes is the occasional wheeze. “Well I know what we’re watching tonight,” Andrea finally manages.

“Seconded,” Lena agrees, wiping tears from her eyes.

Kara sighs good-naturedly “I figured.” She suddenly lights up. “Oh! I know an embarrassing one for you!”

Andrea arches a brow curiously. "Do tell.”

“The time you wore my shirt!” Kara crows.

Lena coughs and splutters as Andrea turns spectacularly red.

_day twenty-three_

Lena Luthor is not-so-secretly a romantic at heart.

Sure, she supposes it _is_ a secret to anyone who’s ever sat across a negotiating table from her- they’re probably under the impression that she’s a stone-cold bitch. Which, honestly, isn’t the worst reputation to have as a young, pretty female CEO. Really cuts down on how nice she has to force herself to be to terrible people. And that is a boon for Lena’s spirit, because there’s very little she hates more than having to put up with bullshit and blustering.

But she is. A romantic, that is. Anyone who knows her personally knows that, and no one more than her girlfriends- after all, she’d filled Kara’s office with flowers very shortly after meeting her, and Andrea has borne witness to (and been the recipient of) similar such displays of affection.

But the thing is that Lena didn’t _have_ that great an idea of what love really looked like when she was growing up- she’d seen it in movies, or books. The big gestures, the sweeping off of feet, the flowers, the big speeches… to her young mind, that'd been what love was. 

So Lena had been rather wholly unprepared for what actual, healthy relationships entail- doing dishes and taking out trash and bills and raking leaves and filling up the car with gas and quick goodbye kisses around a bite of toast and lazy Sundays and talking.

_So much talking._

Lena had no clue what the fuck to do with _any_ of that. Her parents were rarely on the same continent, let alone the same house- she had no idea what the day-to-day function of a relationship looked like. And even if her parents _had_ lived in the same space for any meaningful amount of time, Lena doubts that their relationship would've been any better as an example- the fact that Lena exists at all is a bit of a testament to that. It’d… been a steep learning curve, to adjust an admittedly childlike fascination with the idea of love to the actual act of loving someone and _continuing_ to love them when there weren’t speeches to be made and the feet had already been swept. She’d gotten it, eventually, thanks to the combined and seemingly boundless patience (and, occasionally, fond bemusement) of two particular people throughout Lena’s life.

( _"Y_ _ou jump, I jump.”_

_“Always.”_

And to their credit, Andrea has always, _always_ jumped with her, and Kara’s never failed to catch her. It’s kind of a perfect system, as far as Lena’s concerned.)

She gets it, now, how to _be_ in a relationship, not just _get_ one. She does the chores and the boring, drudgy, decidedly _un_ romantic things because she knows that oddly, the boring, druggy things can be fun and romantic in their own way- doing dishes with Kara generally leads into dancing (badly) in their kitchen, and doing reports on Andrea's couch in companionable quiet usually leads to her work being done at a decent hour and getting to make out like teenagers with a gorgeous view of the National City skyline. And there’s not a lot that’s more romantic to Lena, she’s learned over the years, than actually showing up and _being_ there. It’s something Kara and Andrea excel at, each in their own ways.

But there are a few things from her starry-eyed youth that've managed to carry over into adulthood…

“I can’t believe you did this to me.”

“Oh, shut up, I didn’t even tell you it was on!”

Andrea levels her with a glare. “This music is _burned_ into my brain, _querida_. I’d recognize it if I were _deaf_.”

Lena shushes her with a quick kiss, watching as Jack boards the Titanic with Fabrizio, scratching lightly at Andrea's scalp.

It's so familiar, watching _Titanic_ all sprawled out on the couch with Andrea laying halfway on top of her. 

Rose is just stepping over the rail on the deck when Kara emerges from the office and heads into the kitchen. The telltale rattle of the refrigerator opening and closing is quickly followed by the hiss of a beer bottle. "Hey, I kinda just wanna order a pizza or burgers or something tonight, if that's cool?" Her voice is… off. Tight and strained high in her throat. 

Lena's brow furrows as she hits pause. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, just… _really_ tired. One of my buddies in Thailand is si- oh." Kara's finally looked up from her drink, spotting them on the couch and the paused movie on the TV. "Oh, god, sorry. Totally interrupting you guys' movie. Carry on."

"No," Andrea says, shifting into a seated position. "You're upset, even I can tell that."

"It's- I don't wanna like, be that person who's bitching about stuff, and-"

"Kara."

Kara sighs, picking at the label of her beer bottle. "One of my friends is sick. He's in the hospital, and the doctors are apparently saying his chances are good, but like… it sucks to not be able to do anything."

Lena eyes her with soft sympathy. "I'm so sorry, love."

Kara shrugs, pastes on a smile. "It's alr-" She swallows thickly. "He has good chances- he's young, healthy, went to the doctor pretty quick… he's gonna be fine." She grins, but it's too stiff. "I'm gonna get out of your hair, okay? Enjoy your movie, text what you want for dinner."

Lena's not entirely sure of what to do, here. She wants to go after Kara, but leaving Andrea alone seems wrong too. She hasn't been in a situation like this, yet, where she needs to make a quick choice on whether or not to bail on one of them for the other. “Kara…”

Fortunately, Lena's far from the only genius in the room.

"How do you feel about _Titanic_?" Andrea asks.

Kara blinks at her. "What?"

" _T_ _itanic._ What are your thoughts?"

"Um… it was a very sad thing that happened? A bit before my time, though..."

"No, the movie."

"Oh! That makes way more sense. Uh, I know it's Lena's favorite, and she sobs her face off every time we watch it because it's _sad_ -"

"It's not sad, it's accurate! Besides, the ending is happy!"

Andrea and Kara both express nonverbal disagreement at this (Andrea with a pointed look and a raised brow, Kara with a scrunched face and a tilted head).

"I mean, _is_ it, though?" Kara asks. 

Andrea snorts.

The _betrayal_.

"You're both plebs who can't appreciate nuance," Lena sniffs, folding her arms over her chest.

"It's _Romeo and Juliet_ on a boat!"

" _The Little Mermaid_ did it better."

"How dare you."

Kara laughs, but she's obviously still sad and upset, her blue eyes bright and glassy even in the low light of the room. Seeing this, Andrea seems to come to a decision. "Alright, Kara, come here. You're gonna watch it too."

"Oh, no, that's- I know this is like, a _thing_ for you guys, and I don't wanna impose on that."

"You're not- I need help making fun of Lena when she starts crying," Andrea argues, shooting Lena a wink and a grin.

"Hooligans. Culture-deprived hooligans."

Kara's still hesitant, hovering at the end of the island counter and drumming her fingers anxiously against the beer bottle. "Are you sure? I really don't mind-"

"Would you get over here so we can start the movie?" Andrea groans. Kara huffs at her before tripping her way over toward the love seat. Andrea frowns. "Is that what I said? 'Come watch this with us from the other end of the room?' No. I said come _here_."

Kara eyes the occupied couch and gives a wry grin. "Looks kinda crowded."

Andrea rolls her eyes, grabbing Lena by the hips and dragging her forward. "Just sit behind Lena. This couch is enormous, we can all fit."

Kara turns several interesting shades of red. "Oh. Um, I dunno if-"

Andrea sighs, pushing a hand through her hair. "Kara, if I'm not allowed to be alone at my house, neither are you. You obviously need a hug, or something, right? So get over here. Now."

"Okay." Kara slides in behind Lena, apologizing as she knocks her knee into Lena's back as she adjusts, laying back against the arm of the couch and snaking one leg past her along the seam of the sofa and stretching the other out across the floor. Lena shuffles a bit to get comfortable in the cradle Kara's legs have created, her back to Kara's front. And once _she's_ settled, Andrea lays back down between Lena's legs, resting her cheek on Lena's stomach.

This, of course, leads to _more_ adjusting and shifting and grumbling, but finally they're all settled down and comfortable (well, as comfortable as one can be when sandwiched between their very hot girlfriends. Lena means that literally- Kara's always a furnace and Andrea isn't much better). Lena snags the remote and starts the movie over, ignoring their combined insistence that she _really_ doesn't have to- this is an _experience,_ and they're going to appreciate it properly. 

Whether they want to or not.

They're a bit stiff, at first. It'd be funny, if it wasn't so _weird_. Because Kara's generally got one hand laced with Lena's and the other in her hair. And usually Andrea would be, in essence, a puddle, floppy and sprawled, nuzzling her face against Lena's belly. But it's like they're both determined to not move, or talk, or disturb each other. 

It’d be almost sweet, if Lena wasn’t fairly convinced they were both going to strain something.

(Lena herself is _very_ comfortable, her only compunction being that this is _very_ close to something she’s had… let’s say a few errant thoughts about. Maybe a couple daydreams. Possibly an actual dream. Or two.

Whatever, it’s fine. This is fine.)

Finally, bit by bit, they both relax, Kara’s hand finding its way to her hair and playing with it lazily, Andrea tucking herself a bit closer to Lena and sighing as Lena scratches her back absentmindedly. It’s not long before they start talking, joking and commenting on this or that in low voices, Andrea making some joke that makes Kara laugh, which bounces and jostles them all, which makes all of them laugh more (even if Andrea pretends to be miffed by it).

About an hour and a half in, Kara goes boneless behind Lena. She tips her head back, chuckling when she sees that Kara is _definitely_ sound asleep and snoring lightly. 

"Andi, look," Lena murmurs, nudging her a bit.

Andrea props her chin on Lena's stomach. When she sees Kara knocked out, she… smiles- actually _smiles_ \- soft, the way she only does with Lena. It only lasts a second before it morphs into a smirk. "Are we too old to draw on her face?"

Lena snorts, swatting at her carefully. _"Yes."_

"What about sticking her bra in the freezer?"

"No, we're not doing that either."

"Well you're absolutely no fun anymore."

"And yet here you are, half asleep on top of me."

"I am not," Andrea argues, a furrow in her brow as she nuzzles her cheek against Lena's stomach, eyes drooping closed. "I'm watching this movie with you."

"Yeah?"

"Mhmm. And if I am falling asleep, it's your fault. You're warm and soft."

Lena chuckles. "Two adjectives rarely used to describe me."

"Other people are idiots, then," Andrea yawns. She hums as Lena massages her scalp. "What part are we at?"

Lena glances over at the TV before smiling down at her. "You jump, I jump."

"Mm. That's a good part."

"One of the best," Lena agrees. When no response is forthcoming, she looks down to see that Andrea has also succumbed to sleep.

"Could be worse," Lena huffs fondly, managing to grab the blanket on the back of the couch and drag it over the three of them. Kara shifts slightly behind her, smacking her lips a bit before she settles again. Andrea's brow wrinkles for a moment, and Lena smooths the pad of her thumb over it, earning a low hum of contentment.

Yeah. It could be a lot worse, she decides, resigning herself to a night on the couch squeezed between her two favorite people.

And Kara and Andrea are, hands down, Lena's very favorite people. 

Even if they did both fall asleep on her.

_"I'll never let go, Jack."_

Lena hums, letting her eyes flutter closed.

She doesn't plan to let go either.

_day twenty-four_

Lena is woken abruptly the next day when something smacks her _hard_ in the side of the head, followed swiftly by a loud crash, the sound of breaking glass, and a dull _thud_ that shakes the walls. Lena jerks upright, which wakes Andrea, who jerks her head up and hits Lena clean on the jaw.

“Ow, _shit_ , Andi!”

“What the _fuck_!” Andrea yells, rubbing furiously at her head where it’d connected with Lena’s chin.

Lena takes quick stock of where everyone seems to be, noting that Kara’s foot is caught on the arm of the couch, there seems to be some pitiful moaning coming from that general area… and also their lamp and end table have mysteriously vanished. “Kara?”

“Ow,” Kara coughs, accenting her complaint with a soft _thump_. “ _Ow_.”

Andrea and Lena look at each other before scrambling apart and leaning over the couch to look at her. Kara’s sprawled on top of what broken bits remain of their end table and its former contents. The pretty ceramic lamp is broken to bits- thankfully, away from Kara.

“Holy- are you alright?” Andrea asks, eyes wide as she takes in the destruction

“I’m _so_ good,” Kara says breezily, waving her hand dismissively. “My head and spine broke my fall, so. All good.”

“Jesus,” Lena mutters, climbing over the back of the couch and kneeling at Kara’s head. “What e- _how_?”

Kara grins up at her winningly, eyes roving around a bit despite her best efforts. “You’re so pretty. Like, damn, babe. I’m so happy you let me have sex with you.”

Lena’s eyes narrow as Andrea snorts. “Are you saying that so I don’t yell at you or because you’re concussed?”

“ _Por que no los dos?”_ Kara asks, still grinning and batting her eyelashes.

“Don’t you quote memes at me,” Lena tells her sternly, ignoring Andrea stifling laughter behind her. “What were you _doing_?”

“I was trying to go for a run,” Kara mumbles sheepishly. “But you were both on top of me, and you were both so _cute_. I didn’t wanna wake you up, so I thought I could like, slide out from under you without waking you up.”

“Well you did _great_ ,” Andrea assures her from the kitchen, reemerging with two ice packs from the freezer. She hands one to Kara, who pouts up at her, and hands the other to Lena. “Sorry about your face, honey.”

Lena flexes her jaw with a wince before applying the pack. “Well, I knew what I was getting into- you always were hardheaded…”

“Ha!” Kara laughs.

“Hey, _you_ kicked me in the head,” Lena scolds her, clearing away the debris so they can haul Kara safely to her feet. “So no jokes from you.”

Kara stands, albeit a bit shakily, cupping Lena’s face carefully between her hands. “Crap, are you okay? I’m so, _so_ sorry, I just wanted you guys to be able to keep sleeping, is all.”

Lena sighs fondly. “I’m fine. _You_ , however, definitely have a concussion.”

Kara squints down at Lena. “You can’t tell that without an MRI.”

“Why do you know that offhand?” Andrea asks.

“From when I got blown up.”

“When you _what_?!”

Lena sighs. “Long story. Ask her when she can see straight.”

“I don’t do anything straight,” Kara says with a cheeky grin.

Andrea eyes her up and down. “Prove it.”

“Stop flirting with my girlfriend,” Lena sighs.

“I’m _not!_ ” they both argue.

Lena feels that the fact that they both feel the need to defend themselves proves that they _are_ , but it's fuck off o'clock in the morning, Lena's had zero coffee, and she's already had two different blunt traumas to the head, so she lacks the energy to point this out to them. She tugs Kara along carefully, steadying her as she wobbles with a hand at her elbow. "Come on, bed."

Kara’s brow furrows. “But I made a mess.”

“I’ll clean it up, you need to lay down and keep that ice on your head,” Lena says firmly.

“I can do it,” Kara argues, lurching toward the mess in question.

“Kara,” Lena says, grip tightening slightly on her arms. "I can take care of this."

“Go lay down,” Andrea says. “We’ve got this.”

Kara frowns, looking between them. “You sure?”

Lena rolls her eyes. “Between us we have two PhD’s, three Master’s, and we speak… eight?” She looks to Andrea, who nods in confirmation. “Eight languages. We can manage.”

Kara huffs at this even as Andrea snorts, but she allows herself to be led to the bedroom at the end of the hall. “I promise I’m fine, you know,” she says as she clambers into bed.

Lena bends over her, tugging the blanket up securely. She presses a lingering kiss to Kara’s forehead and cups her cheek, smile laced with soft affection. “Of course you are, I just like taking care of you. Don’t get the chance very often.”

Kara hums contentedly, turning her head just enough to kiss the inside of Lena’s wrist. “‘kay. Well I like it too. Except for the, y’know, hurting everywhere part.”

Lena snorts lightly, dropping another kiss to her brow before standing. “Understandable. Try to stay awake, okay? I’ll be back in a bit to get you some meds and keep an eye on you.”

Kara nods, smiling, and reaches for her her tablet on the side table as Lena departs.

She reemerges into the main room and takes in the destruction again, shaking her head in fond bemusement. “How did she even _do_ this?”

"At least the table broke under her, instead of the other way around," Andrea says, offering Lena a steaming mug of coffee as she nears.

"Oh, thanks. And yeah, no shit," Lena snorts. "Kara's enough of a handful when she's got outlets for her energy- I shudder to think what she'd do if she broke her leg."

Andrea hums, grabbing a nearby chunk of lamp and tossing it onto the pile of debris. "She'd drive herself crazy."

"And me," Lena chuckles fondly. “ _Rear Window_ , here we come.”

Andrea huffs a laugh. "I think you'd like having her around more, though."

"I wouldn't hate it, but I wouldn't want it to be because she's hurt. Or because of a global pandemic, but clearly I'm not in charge." Lena smiles up at her. “I like having you around all the time, too. I don’t get to see you like this, much.”

“Like what?”

Lena shrugs, sipping thoughtfully at her coffee. “At ease,” she finally decides. “I don’t generally get to see you sleepy and drinking coffee.”

Andrea’s mouth twists in a wry smile. “Fair.” She drums her fingers against her mug. “Thank you again, for letting me stay-”

“Stop that. We’ve loved having you,” Lena says, digging around in the pantry for the heavy-duty garbage bags. 

“Kara mentioned a while ago that it was her idea?”

Lena tilts her head with a smile, making her way to the table-that-was. “It was. I _had_ thought about it, but I didn’t want to ask that- of either of you. It was a relief when she brought it up.”

Andrea hums. “Why did she?”

Lena shrugs, whipping the bag open and starting to shove the broken pieces of furniture into it. “Because it’s who she is. She knows you’re important to me, so you’re important to her.”

“That simple?”

“That simple.”

Andrea huffs, grabbing a table leg and shoving it into the bag. They work in silence for a few minutes before Andrea speaks again. “I was pretty sure I was going to hate her. I actually wanted to, when you told me you were with someone, that it was serious.”

Lena looks up at her, silently encouraging her to continue.

“Because you just have… _awful_ taste, generally speaking. Present company included.” Lena snorts and slaps at her, and Andrea grins. “It’s always been easy to hate whoever it was that you were with, because they weren’t great- as people _or_ to you. But it’s _very_ hard to hate her.”

“I told you so,” Lena says softly.

“You did,” Andrea agrees. “For what it’s worth, I do like her. A lot more than I expected to. More than I'd like, actually."

Her wry tone catches Lena's attention. "Hey, you know she likes you too- she really wanted to be your friend. And she's not the sort to hurt a friend. You don't need to worry about that with her."

"No, of course I know that," Andrea says, matter-of-fact. She thinks for a moment, worrying at her lip as she looks down at Lena. "How did you kn-" she stops herself, frowns, before plowing forward. “What’s it like?”

"What's what like?" Lena asks distractedly, scooping up the last few bits of broken table and lamp and dumping them into the trash bag, dusting her hands off against one another. Andrea looks like she's gearing up to say something when a quiet groan comes from down the hall. Lena sighs fondly and rolls to her feet. "She's not particularly good at being injured. Are you okay on your own for the day so I can keep an eye on her?"

Andrea blinks, smiles. "Of course. And I can take care of dinner tonight."

"Oh no, Andi, you don't have to-"

"I want to," Andrea insists. "Besides, I can't let _you_ cook- you burn boiled eggs."

"I was 15!" Lena laughs, slapping at her playfully. "I'll have you know I've gotten much better in the last few years."

Andrea smirks. "Benefits of bedding a chef?"

"Absolutely. I highly recommend it," Lena says with a cheeky wink.

Andrea chuckles, and there's that wry tone again when she says, "I'll keep that in mind."

Lena turns to go, but stops. “Oh, I’m sorry- you were saying something before Kara distracted me. What was it you needed, honey?”

Andrea smiles, though it doesn’t quite reach her eyes. “It’s not important. Go take care of her.”

Lena grins, popping up onto her toes to kiss Andrea softly. “I love you.”

“Love you too. Now go, before she falls out of bed or something.”

Lena gets the feeling that something is… off, somehow, but knowing Andrea, she’s not going to talk about it until she’s good and ready. Which could take anywhere from a few days to several years. So Lena smiles and makes her way down the hall, a half-worry niggling at the back of her mind as she goes. 

Kara wraps around Lena like a koala as soon as she slips into their bed, and that’s the way they spend much of their day. Lena calls Alex and explains the situation, and once Alex has stopped laughing and regained her composure, she recommends a few days rest, some Tylenol, and also that Kara wear a helmet for the foreseeable future (although Lena’s inclined to believe that suggestion is a joke).

Kara, aside from some gentle grumbling and whining about the impressive goose-egg on the back of her head, is a model patient, content to cuddle up to Lena and listen to her read articles from engineering journals and R&D reports. Lena watches a few episodes of _Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat_ with Kara, enjoying the scientific aspects of it even if she is a bit useless in the kitchen.

“I have a question,” Kara announces three hours in.

“What’s that, love?”

“Why did you and Andrea break up?”

Lena freezes. “I’m- have I not told you this before?”

Kara’s face scrunches. “I bonked my head, remember?” she jokes, but when she looks up at Lena’s face, the smile drops. “Oh, hey, you don’t- you don’t have to tell me. I was just kinda curious, because she’s, like, super awesome and pretty and smart and all… together- like you. So I was just wondering what happened. But it’s not my business, so-”

“No, it’s fine. You just caught me off-guard,” Lena sighs, relaxing a fraction. “We were too young, I think. When we got together. I didn’t… neither of us was ready for what we both wanted, what we felt for each other. And she’d always planned to move home to Buenos Aires, and I’d always planned to take a position with my family’s company. Looking back, it was inevitable, in a way. I think we both knew that, even then. Much as we both hated it.”

Kara hums, thumb dragging soothing patterns over Lena’s hip. “That sucks,” she says earnestly.

Lena lets out a brief laugh. “Yeah, yeah it _really_ sucked. We tried to do long distance for a while, but it was too hard. We were both so busy with university and internships and fellowships… we never saw one another. And we were best friends, before anything else, and I _really_ didn’t want to lose my best friend _and_ my girlfriend in one fell swoop- we decided to keep the relationship we could, and let go of the other.”

Kara tightens her embrace for a moment. “I’m sorry, babe. I didn’t mean to make you sad.”

“You didn’t,” Lena assures her, carding a hand through her wild blonde hair. “It’s a sad part of the story, but I think it’s at a good part right now.”

Kara smiles up at her. “Me too- I like her.” She studies Lena for a moment. “Do you regret that you broke up?”

“Not anymore,” Lena says. “I used to, but I meant what I said- we were too young for all that. Neither of us was ready for it, and I don’t know if we would’ve stayed together regardless. At least this way, we stayed friends, you know? And besides, if we’d never broken up, I might’ve never met you.”

Kara ponders this for a moment before shaking her head. “Nah. I think we would’ve still met. Maybe differently, but it’d still happen.”

“Oh?”

Kara nods thoughtfully. “I think some people are supposed to meet, and are supposed to be important to you, and I don’t think there’s much changing that that we can do. You, me, her… we’re all tangled together, somehow. I don’t think it’d be possible for us to never meet, any of us.”

Lena chuckles wetly. “You’re very wise when you hit your head.”

“Years of practice,” Kara says with a grin.

“Yes, speaking of, _please_ stop getting hurt. I’m rather fond of your brain, and I’d like for it to remain as intact as possible.”

“I’ll try my best. Just wake you guys up next time, even if you’re both very cute when you’re sleeping.”

Lena looks down at her curiously. “Next time?”

Kara flushes a bit. “Just, if we find ourselves in that situation again, for some reason. I mean, I didn’t mind it, honestly- you’re both warm, and it was like having the ultimate weighted blanket. I slept like a baby. Even though I like, _fully_ couldn’t feel my legs when I woke up, which… is probably why I went all bull in a china shop, now that I say it out loud.”

Lena snorts, rolling her eyes fondly. “You think?”

“Once in a while.”

Lena lets out a loud laugh. “Funny.”

Kara grins up at her. “I try. Really, _really_ hard.”

“You’re a goof.”

“You like me anyways.”

“I love you _because_ ,” Lena corrects. “Are you hungry?”

Kara snorts. “Kinda, yeah. Think you can manage a pb&j?”

Lena pretends to ponder this. “Do you want it grilled?”

“Absolutely not,” Kara says firmly. “I’ll never forget what you did to my poor cast-iron pan…”

“That was an accident!”

“You _melted_ it!”

Lena huffs, attempting to cross her arms but blocked by the fact that her arms are full of Kara. “Starve then.”

“No, wait, I’m sorry!” Kara laughs, squeezing her tight. “I’m sorry, babe. Please feed me.”

Lena sniffs at her. “No. You’ll just food-critic it.”

“That’s not a verb,” Kara points out.

“It is now.”

“Maybe Andrea loves me enough to feed me...”

“Try your luck, then, Danvers.”

“ _Baaaaaabe_ ,” Kara laughs. “Please, I’m wounded. M’brain’s all scrambled, I don’t know what I’m saying.”

Lena’s fighting a smile now. “Sucks to be you.”

Kara smiles up at her, all soft and fond. “Nah. Being me is pretty awesome. I mean, I’m one of two people in the world who gets to snuggle up on you, so. Could be way worse.”

Lena smiles. “Charmer.”

“Gotta be. My girlfriend is a babe.”

“... You really want a sandwich, don’t you?”

“I _really_ want a sandwich.”

_day twenty-nine_

“How do you feel about hugs?”

Andrea squints at Kara over the rim of her red coffee mug, slightly bleary-eyed. “Hugs.”

“Yeah, y’know, wrap your arms around someone. Apply pressure. Release oxytocin, yada yada. Hugs. How do you feel about hugs?”

Andrea blinks, seemingly trying to piece this mystery together. “I feel fine?”

“Oh, good! Is it okay if I give you a hug?”

Andrea frowns outright. It’s very cute in the haze of early morning light, Lena thinks, even though Andi would murder her if she said so. “Why do you want to give me a hug?”

Kara shrugs easily, already back from her run (the first since she’d hit her head, and feeling much better for it, compared to several surly morning spent trying to convince Lena that she was totally fine earlier in the week) and freshly showered. “I like hugs. Sometimes I need a hug.”

“Are you saying _I_ need a hug?”

“No, I’m saying that sometimes _I_ need hugs. You CEOs never listen…”

“So you want to give me a hug because _you_ need one?” Andrea clarifies.

“Yes. Or if you do. Either is fine.”

“Why don’t you just hug Lena?”

“I do hug Lena. Sometimes I need to switch things up- my sister is about your height- I’d hate to forget how to hug a normal-sized person after only hugging a short one for so long.”

“Hey!” Lena objects. “I am _not_ short, _you’re_ both tall.”

“Of course we are, babe. You are completely average height, and that’s why you wear heels everywhere even when it’s super impractical,” Kara coos with an indulgent smile.

Lena blows an errant lock of hair out of her face and narrows her eyes at Kara. “You’re lucky you’re cute and that I can’t make my own coffee.”

Kara grins at her before returning her attention to Andrea. “So?”

“Why do you _actually_ want to hug me?”

Kara shrugs. “Sometimes I just want to hug people. I’m a hugger.”

“God.”

Kara sighs melodramatically, acting very put-upon by this entire ordeal, and Lena sort of loves her even more, somehow, for making this out to be much more cheeky and playful to put Andrea at ease. “Andrea, sometimes I would like to hug you when you do something nice for me because that’s who I am as a person- I hug. I am a huggy, cuddly, koala-person. And I don’t like fighting the urge to hug people. And besides- technically we slept together, so I feel like hugs aren’t that big an ask.”

Andrea considers this, but Lena’s known her long enough to know that she’s fighting a smile with all she’s got. “Do I have to hug you back?”

“Traditionally, yes, that is how hugs work,” Kara agrees. “But I promise to reserve my sweaty post-run hugs for Lena.”

“Pass,” Lena mutters, smirking when it pulls a loud snort from Andi.

“Fine,” Andrea agrees. “On one condition.”

Kara’s fairly bouncing as she grins. “What’s that?”

Andrea opens her mouth, closes it. “I haven’t decided yet,” she announces sheepishly.

“Let me know when you do,” Kara says. “I’m on board, I just need to know if I have to shave my head, or something.”

 _“No,”_ Lena says firmly to both of them. “No to that. Epilation of any kind is not allowed.”

“Aw. I think I'd look good bald, babe.”

“ _No._ ”

Andrea’s brow is furrowed as she studies Kara. “So you’re just agreeing to a mystery condition, regardless of what it is.”

“Yep. I mean, after all, we’re friends, right? I don’t think you’d do anything to hurt or upset me. Would you?”

“No.”

“Good! Easy peasy, then. Can I give you a hug? Because I’ve wanted to give you a hug for like, several days, and I’m about to snap like a rubber band.”

Andrea finally, _finally_ laughs- a bit heavy on the disbelief, but a laugh all the same. “Fine.”

Kara _does_ bounce a bit as she rounds the counter, but she lurches to a halt in front of the barstool Andrea’s sitting on. “You don’t actually have to give me a hug, if you don’t want to. Like, I do want to hug you, because I like hugs, but I don’t want you to feel obligated, or anything. Consent is super important, especially for hugs, because, like, they can’t be comforting if the person doesn’t want a hug- I’m pretty sure that’s actually assault. So I just, y’know-”

“Oh my _god_ ,” Andrea grumbles, reaching out and wrapping her arms around Kara’s waist. 

Kara chuckles, dropping her own arms into place and rubbing Andrea’s shoulder soothingly, resting her chin on the brunette’s crown. “See? Not so bad.” Andrea says something that’s too muffled for Lena to hear, but it makes Kara laugh and give her one last squeeze before releasing her with a smile. “Well I definitely feel better. I feel like we needed to hug it out.”

“Hug _what_ out?”

“I dunno, any like, lingering little awkwardness, or whatever. Gone now, right?”

Andrea frowns stubbornly, grabbing her coffee to sip. “Well not _anymore_.”

“See? Knew it.”

“Don’t be smug,” Lena chides idly, sipping her coffee and scrolling through Twitter on her tablet. “It doesn’t suit you.”

“Lena, did you _also_ want a hug?” Kara asks knowingly.

“From you? Always,” Lena says. Kara wraps her in strong arms and holds her close, and Lena relaxes into the hold, smiling when Kara kisses her. “Thank you, love.”

“Mm. More coffee?”

“Yes please.”

Kara drops another kiss to her cheek, plucking her mug from the counter and rounding the island to make Lena a refill. Lena smiles fondly after her before her eyes slant to Andrea, who’s watching her with a decidedly odd expression. Almost… sad.

“Hey, you alright?” she murmurs, reaching out to rest her hand on Andi’s shoulder.

Andrea blinks, seemingly coming back to herself. “I’m fine.”

“Are you sure? You look a little… white.”

“Just a headache,” Andrea dismisses. “You know I get them when the weather is bad.”

Unbidden, Lena’s eyes dart to the bright sunlight streaming in through the windows on the back of the house. From what she can see, it’s a beautiful, sunny, cloudless day in the suburbs of National City. “Andi-”

“I actually need to call my father in a bit- something about a board member being ill,” Andrea says, shrugging out from under Lena’s hand. “It’s going to be a while.”

“Okay?” Lena says to her retreating back, brow furrowed.

Kara turns, smiling brightly as she drops Lena’s mug down in front of her. “Hey, did you wanna plant some of those bulbs today? It looks perfect outside.”

Lena nods, deciding to let this go for now. She can always talk to Andrea about it later.

Many hours, much sunscreen, and a shower later, Lena retreats into what has become Andrea’s room, finding her perusing some email or other intently. “Hey, you.”

Andrea looks up and smiles warmly, any trace of whatever was bothering her earlier long gone. “Hey.”

“Do you mind if I sleep in here tonight?”

“Oh, is it my turn?” Andrea jokes. “Of course I don’t mind. I just have a bit of work to do before I can settle down for the night.”

Lena shrugs, moving to the dresser and stealing a shirt and some shorts to sleep in. “That’s fine, I wanted to read for a bit anyway.”

Andrea hums, watching her over her laptop as Lena pulls off her shirt and pants. “Considering that this is your house, don’t you have your _own_ pajamas?” she drawls.

“Yours are better.”

“Why? They all smell the same, at this point, so it can’t be that.”

Lena shrugs. “Not sure. I’d probably have to run some tests…”

Andrea snorts at her. “You’re a ridiculous nerd.”

Lena smirks and cocks an eyebrow at her. “Do you really not want me to wear your pajamas?”

“I really don’t want you to wear _any_ pajamas,” Andrea corrects, eyes back on her laptop screen.

Lena’s smirk widens, and her plans to read are quickly abandoned. “Really?”

Andrea heaves a sigh. “Lena, if you don’t know by now that I want to see you naked basically always, I don’t know what to do to convince you.”

Lena shrugs, drops the shirt and shorts back into the drawer, and strips off the rest of her clothes. She crawls into the bed and lays down on top of the covers, stretching and shifting in a showy attempt to get comfortable. Finally, she settles on her stomach, head half-tucked into crossed arms.

Andrea is watching her from the corner of her eye. “What are you up to?”

Lena smiles at her guilelessly. “Up to?”

Andrea’s gaze tracks up and down, lingering on her… better assets. “I really need to finish this.”

Lena blinks up at her. “I don’t think I’m stopping you…”

Andi snorts at her, turning back toward her laptop. “Of course not.”

Lena’s always admired Andrea’s focus and drive. In fact, it’s one of the things she loves most about her. 

However…

She stretches again, going through sloppy versions of a few yoga poses she half remembers, winding up in a _very_ intent-laden downward dog with a moan as her muscles stretch.

Andrea half-smirks, half-scowls at her. “Seriously?”

“What?” Lena asks, deepening the pose. “I just felt a little tight.”

“Jesus, you’re shameless,” Andrea mutters, though her heated gaze belies her words.

Lena groans quietly, hiding her smile in the pillow when Andrea’s fists clench. “No idea what you’re talking about. I’ve just been a bit tense the last few days, that’s all.”

“Sure.” She’s still resolutely facing her laptop, but Lena hasn’t seen her type anything in several minutes.

_‘Gotcha.’_

Lena hums, flopping down onto her stomach. “Am I bothering you?”

 _“Yes,”_ Andrea snorts. She closes the laptop and sets it aside, looking over at Lena with a wry smile. “You know you’re the best sort of distraction.”

“I try,” Lena demurs as Andrea rolls over on top of her and starts nosing at her neck and shoulders..

“You succeed. Even though you’re a brat,” Andrea murmurs into the curve of her neck.

“I am _not_.”

“You _are_ , actually,” Andrea informs her, taking the muscle of her shoulder between her teeth and biting down a bit- not enough to bruise, but enough to be felt. She grins at Lena’s throaty groan. “I only had a little left to do, you know. Then you wouldn’t have had to work for my attention.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Lena husks, arching under Andrea. “I’m a Luthor- when we see something we want, we take it. By whatever means necessary.”

 _“God.”_ Andrea’s weight disappears, and Lena’s hips are hauled up unceremoniously until she’s settled on her knees and forearms. A slim, dextrous hand grips at her hip while the other smooths up her back and down again, squeezing her ass firmly. “Always so impatient.”

“One of my best qualities,” Lena gasps as Andrea’s hand slides around the front, nails dragging lightly over her stomach. 

“Best, most annoying…” Andrea muses, the hand at Lena’s hip moving up her back until it’s tangled in her hair.

“You like me a little bossy,” Lena chuckles, moaning a bit when the hand in her hair curls into a tight fist.

Andrea leans over her again. “You’re right. And you're _wet_ ,” she rumbles, and plunges two fingers into slick, silken heat.

Lena sucks in a breath against the clean cotton sheets as Andrea sets a relentless, rough pace, moving in, curling up, and dragging back out. “Oh, god…”

“This is what you wanted, right?” Andrea asks, voice husky and low. “My full, _unwavering_ attention?”

Lena doesn’t quite manage words, simply moaning her enthusiastic agreement.

The fist in her hair grips tighter. “You know how this works, _querida_ \- I need you to use your words.” She slides a third finger in on the following stroke, pairing the action with another bite to Lena’s shoulder. “Is this what you wanted?” 

Despite the tone, Lena knows a check-in when she hears one. “Yes! God, fuck yes. This is what I wanted.”

Andrea laughs, and with her front pressed fully against Lena’s back Lena can feel the vibration in her own body. “There it is.” She rubs a few lazy circles around Lena’s clit with slick fingers before pushing them back inside her. “What do you want, Lena?”

“This,” Lena groans, arching and gasping as Andrea pulls a bit at her hair as her fingers find a particularly perfect rhythm, curling and dragging inside of Lena and leaving her pulled taut and fucking _breathless_. “Fuck, Andi… harder.”

Another laugh, another nip, another stroke through her. And another, and another, and another. With every stretch and push and drag Lena feels _more_ , like she’s dancing on the edge of a knife. “I love this,” Andrea confides, adding the firm grind of her hips against Lena’s ass to the flood of sensation she’s giving Lena. “I love how much you want this. I love how wet you get for me, the sounds you make when I’m inside you…” She pairs this statement with a particularly hard thrust, and Lena’s helpless against the gasp it pulls from her. “I love that you know what you want, love how well you take whatever I give you... I love you so goddamn much, Lena, fuck.”

Lena whines, dropping her face to the mattress only to be pulled up into a kneeling position by the fist in her hair.

“Don’t hide your pretty face,” Andrea croons, still thrusting into her. “I want to watch you come. God, you’re so fucking pretty when you come with me inside you...”

Her hand is pressing Lena back against Andrea, and she feels acutely the drag of Andrea’s sex against her ass, her nipples across Lena’s back. Her own hands have, somehow, wound up on her chest, kneading and plucking in time with Andrea’s thrusts “Andi...”

Andrea’s fingers hit that same perfect spot inside her just as the heel of her hand grinds hard into Lena’s clit, and it sends Lena over the edge with a sharp gasp.

Andrea, as usual, doesn’t let up, doesn’t slow down, simply sliding the hand from Lena’s hair around to graze over the front of her neck, just under her jaw, applying the barest hint of pressure. And before she’s even come down from her first orgasm Lena’s shattering with her second, guttural moans thankfully caught by the hand Andrea claps over her mouth. Lena’s half-aware as she rides it out on the fingers Andrea’s still got inside her, chasing any residual pleasure with needy grinds of twitching hips.

When she finally blinks herself back to some semblance of alertness, it’s to groan sadly as Andrea slips her fingers out of her. “No…”

Andrea snorts softly, kissing her on the neck and sliding her arms around Lena in a _very_ sweaty hug. “Really? Again?”

“Always again,” Lena says, turning her head to catch Andrea’s lips in a kiss that starts chaste and soon devolves into something heated and biting and _wet_. Andrea’s hands are cupping Lena’s breasts now, teasing and pulling lightly at her nipples. 

“You’re insatiable,” Andrea mumbles against her mouth, tongue sliding hot and slick against Lena’s own.

“You like that about me.”

“You’d be annoyingly smug if you were right less often,” Andrea informs her, pinching her fingers hard and chuckling at the noise Lena makes.

“So I’ve heard.”

Andrea hums, nosing at Lena’s jaw and neck and peppering them with light kisses as she goes. “What do you want, honey?”

“No, I had my turn already. What do _you_ want?”

Andrea wraps her arms _tight_ around Lena, tucking her face into her neck and breathing deeply. “I want you. I just want you,” she whispers fervently, placing hot kisses everywhere in reach. “I just want to make you happy.”

Lena scratches lightly at the nape of her neck, enjoying the hum of contentment it pulls from her. “Are you sure? I like taking care of you too, you know.”

“I know, just… I’d rather focus on you tonight, okay?”

“Well then in that case... I want you to strap me.”

Andrea goes momentarily stiff behind her before resuming her meandering motions. “Oh?”

Lena grins, eyes fluttering closed. “God yeah.”

“... nothing else? That’s what you want?”

“I want you to blow my back out,” Lena husks. “I want you to ride me until I forget my name.”

“So, much as I _love_ that, there might be a slight issue with that idea.”

Lena’s never a fan of not getting her way, but it’s the clear awkward tension Andi’s throwing off that concerns her. “What’s that? If you don’t want to, we don’t-”

“No! No, I _love_ that, you know I do. It’s just that…”

Lena frowns, turning in her arms and cupping her face. “Hey, talk to me, what’s the matter?”

“I sort of… didn’t bring that with me, when I left my place to stay with you guys.”

Lena blinks at her. “You didn’t bring a harness…? I’m pretty sure I’ve got one somewhere...”

“No- well yes, but…” Andrea clears her throat and averts her eyes. “I didn’t bring… anything.”

Lena tries her amusement, she really does, but once she snorts it’s not long before her repressed mirth devolves into full-blown belly laughs. “ _What?”_

Andrea’s hands leave their position on Lena’s ass to fly up into the air in exasperation. “Why would I have brought _sex toys_ to stay with you and your girlfriend?!”

“Why wouldn’t you bring any to stay with _your_ girlfriend?” Lena points out, shaking with laughter.

“I thought I was only going to be here for a week, not a _month_ ,” Andrea defends hotly, face burning red against Lena’s palms. “I didn’t figure it would come up!”

Lena’s eyes are watering with mirth. “Oh my _god._ You’re- _god_.”

Andrea huffs and pushes Lena onto her back on the mattress before laying on top of her and scowling. “It’s not that funny.”

“Yes, it is.” Lena grins up at her grumpy girlfriend and cups her face again. “You’re so embarrassed!”

“I am not!”

Lena giggles and darts up to kiss her before flopping back down and laughing some more. “You are.”

Andrea frowns deeply at her and rolls off of Lena and onto her side, facing pointedly away from her girlfriend. “Laugh it up, _querida_ , see if you get laid again tonight.”

Lena bites her lip and grins, rolling onto her side, moulding herself to Andrea’s back and throwing a leg over her hip. “Are you mad?”

“Yes.”

Lena sighs dramatically and makes to get up. “If it’ll make you feel better, I’ll go grab something out of our room- I’m sure Kara won’t mind if you borrow it-”

Lena’s teasing is cut off as arms snake around her waist and haul her back onto the bed. She lands half on top of Andrea with even more laughter. “I will _kill_ you!” Andrea hisses.

Lena hums, settling on her elbows and grinning down at Andrea. “This is a nice view.”

Andrea quirks a brow. “Yes, well, I’m sure you’re not used to seeing me from this angle-”

 _“Asshole,”_ Lena laughs. Andrea chuckles under her, reaching up to tuck a wild lock of hair behind Lena’s ear. “You know I was just kidding, right? About going to get something from mine and Kara’s room?”

Andrea nods. “I know. I figured even you had to have a limit for too far, here.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Lena hums. “I just know that _you_ have a threshold for too far, even if neither of us does. Which is honestly probably a good thing...”

“Are you calling me the prude in this relationship?” Andrea jokes.

“You? _Hardly_. No, I just… I know that this is a sort of… really delicate balance we’ve struck, with all three of us being so _close_ all the time, and me more or less taking turns on where I sleep and with who. I’d hate to upset that over something silly, or rile up any weird... latent jealousy, or something. And I know you two are becoming friends, which is really sort of amazing, honestly- I’d hate for something to derail that.”

“Do you think I’m jealous?” The way Andrea says it, it’s almost not a question.

Lena bites her lip and sighs. “You _did_ flee the room when I kissed her, earlier… I wanted to talk about that, actually, but I wasn’t quite sure how to bring it up.”

“You always find a way- that’s why you’re so good at all this.” Andrea studies her face, something odd and almost _sad_ swirling in her bright blue eyes. “Lena, I promise you- I’m not jealous of Kara. Okay?”

Lena watches her closely, but she doesn't seem to be lying. Slowly, she nods. "Okay. If you're sure we don't need to talk about anything…"

“We don't. I just don’t want to use her strap-on to fuck you.”

Lena licks her lips and bites the tip of her tongue as she starts to grin. “Right.”

“Because that’s _weird_.”

Lena’s face scrunches up thoughtfully. “I mean, is it _really_ that weird? Because-”

The rest of her question (and laughter) is swallowed up in a heated kiss.

_day thirty-six_

“So the key is to not overwork it when you punch it down- otherwise it’s too tough and chewy.”

Andrea nods seriously, taking a long drag off the joint the three of them are passing in the kitchen before passing it to Kara. “Right. Which… we don’t want,” she says, exhaling a cloud of pungent smoke toward the ceiling.

“Exactly,” Kara says, pointing at her with the joint before sparking the end again and puffing on it. “God, you’re pretty smart at all this, huh?”

They’ve gotten into the habit, recently, of all of them hanging out in the kitchen or living room and getting a little high together. Not enough that Lena ever gets paranoid, or anything, but just enough that they’re all loose-limbed and laughing at nothing for hours at a time- plus it makes everything Kara cooks that much more delicious. 

Kara had started it, by digging the (frighteningly) large bag of contraband from her bottom desk drawer, along with papers, a grinder, and her puppy dog eyes, saying she didn’t want to get high by herself (like she _really_ had to convince either of them). And true to her word, it was indeed good stuff. So for the last several days, Andrea’s been trying to learn to cook while she’s high as a kite, and the entire thing is Lena’s new favorite form of entertainment. Kara passes her the joint with a lazy wink and moves to wash her hands before starting on kneading the various doughs along the countertops.

It’s truly a gift to watch Kara make bread, Lena muses dreamily (Lena might be a little more than a little high...)- especially when she decides to do it in a tank top. The way her muscles stand out so starkly against the tanned skin of her forearms and biceps and broad shoulders, the light dusting of flour on her strong hands, the easy, practiced rhythm as she kneads the dough, humming quietly under her breath. She has several batches going, apparently intending to drop some off for Alex and Kelly and their next door neighbor Dellie, and also make sticky buns for breakfast tomorrow.

Yes, there are truly no downsides to watching a sleeveless Kara make bread all day long, Lena decides.

And, much to Lena’s interest/amusement, Andrea seems to agree. She’s standing next to Kara, ostensibly to help her knead and shape the dough, but in actuality it seems to be more likely that she’s staring at the flex and play of Kara’s arms as much as Lena is.

_‘She might be more stoned than I thought…’_

(Not that Lena can blame or mock her, really, since she’s shamelessly ogling Kara from the stools at the island counter.)

And after several minutes of Andrea only vaguely sort of moving the dough around on the counter, Kara has noticed.

“Hey, are you alright?” she asks Andrea, turning the dough and folding it neatly in on itself before dropping it into a waiting bread pan. 

Andrea blinks herself out of her stupor, and Lena snorts. “Me? I’m fine, why?”

“Nothing, you just look a little, um, out of it, and you’ve done, like, one loaf. Kind of,” Kara says, reaching over to grab the dough Andrea’s been ignoring. Seeing that Andrea’s even _redder_ , Kara frowns, dusts off her hands, and gently cups Andrea’s face in large, floury hands. “You sure you’re alright? You smoke too much, or something?”

Andrea just about jumps out of her skin at the contact, and seemingly on instinct grabs a handful of flour and throws it directly into Kara’s face. Lena immediately starts cackling, hugging herself and leaning dangerously far back in the stool as Kara blinks owlishly, pulls off her flour-coated glasses, and sneezes. This serves to send up another cloud of flour, and make Lena laugh even harder. 

The blonde (who looks positively ghoulish) grins mischievously and grabs her own handful of flour, taking a step toward Andrea.

“Oh, hey, no, absolutely not,” Andrea says, holding up her hands and backing slowly away from Kara as she advances. “Kara…”

“Andrea,” Kara says lightly, still walking forward as Andrea continues to retreat. “I know you’re new here, still, but we have a rule in this house.”

“What’s that?”

Kara grins, reaching out and dumping the flour over her head. “Don’t start anything you can’t finish.” 

Andrea nods thoughtfully, swiping a hand through her hair only to have it come back coated in flour. “You should take your own advice.”

And with that, she grabs another handful from the pile on the counter and whips it into Kara’s face.

Thus begins an all-out flour fight, and the biggest mess Lena’s ever seen in her home. Kara and Andrea scramble around, throwing handfuls of the stuff at each other, laughing and jeering and tripping over themselves trying to avoid the next barrage. Lena herself manages to stay out of it until Kara uses her as a human shield, one which Andrea has no qualms about counting as collateral damage. This results in Lena joining the fray, throwing flour at both of them and laughing harder than she can remember doing for years.

“You did this!” Lena yells as she grabs the paper flour sack from the counter and throws a handful at Kara’s head.

“Me?! I was just retaliating! _She_ started it!” Kara laughs.

Andrea smirks and cocks a brow. “And now you’re fighting each other- that means I win.” She yelps as Kara staggers forward, her socked feet slip-sliding against the flour-dusted floor, and snags Andrea up off her feet, arms locked around her waist. Andrea struggles valiantly against the hold (or at least, as much as she can while laughing herself silly), but to no avail; Lena knows better than anyone how deceptively strong Kara really is. “Put me _down_!”

“But you won! That means you get a crown!” Kara laughs, squeezing her tight and winking at Lena, who grins and upends the back over her head. It covers Andrea and Kara both from head to toe, and Kara laughs so hard her feet finally manage to slip out from under her. She manages to fall onto her butt, this time, and she and Andrea land in a laughing, floury heap on the kitchen floor, where Lena quickly joins them, finally having succumbed to her own laughter.

After a few moments, Kara swipes a hand over her face, and her eyes, the bridge of her nose, and part of her mouth and cheek are revealed. It’s a stark contrast when she grins all squinty at Andrea, who had inadvertently wound up in her lap when they fell. “Y’know, I’m pretty sure we could make pancakes from all the flour I just inhaled…”

“How do you think I feel? My mouth tastes like I licked the floor of a bakery,” Andrea chuckles, blinking rapidly to clear her lashes of flour. She squints at Kara and Lena and grins. “You both look ridiculous.”

Lena snorts. “If you think you look any better, you’re sadly mistaken, _fantasma_.”

“Well at least you can both see properly- I think some of it got in my eyes,” Andrea complains, swiping at her face and blinking hard.

“Oh, hey, no, you’re just gonna rub it in your eyes if you do that. Let me.” Kara cups her chin carefully with one hand and pulls up the hem of her shirt with the other, swiping it carefully over Andrea’s face, brushing away a majority of the flour and even blowing some away from her eyes. “There, is that better?”

Andrea’s eyes flutter open, and without the white powder as a cover Lena sees just how red her face is. She clears her throat, leaning away from Kara. “Yes. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome!” Kara says with a cheery grin.

“You were both right- I do look ridiculous,” Andrea snorts as she finally gets a good look at herself.

Kara studies her before slowly shaking her head. “Nah. I think you look pretty in a flour crown,” she says, grinning toothily at Andrea (and her own pun) and ruffling her hair with both hands so a cloud goes up.

And Andrea just keeps smiling bashfully, and getting redder, and _redder,_ and her adoring expression is one Lena knows so well she could probably draw it with her eyes… closed.

And suddenly, through the haze of humor and marijuana, _several_ things start clicking into place for Lena.

The weird behavior.

The pained look every time Kara gives her a hug, or a kiss.

_“What’s it like?”_

_I do like her. A lot more than I expected to. More than I'd like, actually..."_

_“I promise you, I’m not jealous of Kara...”_

_'Me. She was jealous of me. Because I was kissing Kara. Andrea likes Kara. Andrea_ likes _Kara._

_‘Oh.’_

Lena’s eyes widen as she finally sees what’s been in front of her, probably for _weeks_ , and she knows the instant that Andrea sees the realization in her eyes, because she scrambles up off of Kara’s lap and onto her feet, laughing the same high-pitched, awkward fake-laugh she’d always used when she was _very_ nervous or uncomfortable. 

“Wow, we, uh, we better clean this up, huh? This place is a _mess_.”

And it is, but Lena’s not fooled. “Andi-” she tries, voice gentle, trying her best not to scare her into thinking Lena’s _angry_.

(Because she’s definitely not angry. Confused, surprised, still a little stoned? Yes, all of those. But not angry.)

“I’ll go get the vacuum!” Andrea offers, and darts down the hall. They both stare after her, Kara slightly bewildered and Lena just a bit… shocked.

“She must’ve been _way_ more high than I thought,” Kara muses, hauling herself to her feet and offering a hand to Lena.

Lena accepts it wordlessly, staring after Andrea. “Must’ve been.”

They clean the kitchen quickly, Andrea reemerging into the room with the vacuum, a broom, a dustpan, and headphones in her ears, brassy Latin music blaring so loudly they can hear it from several feet away. She doesn’t talk to either of them, and keeps her eyes down on the counter so Lena can’t even catch her gaze.

Kara keeps looking at her with a pleading _‘What’s going on?’_ expression, and all Lena can do is shrug helplessly. As soon as the kitchen is cleaned up, Andrea retreats to her room, and they can hear the lock slide into place.

Kara, surprisingly, is also very quiet and contemplative, smiling only reflexively when Lena says something, her mind clearly somewhere else.

It isn’t until they’re in bed that night, Lena safe and secure in Kara’s arms, both of them freshly showered, that Lena finds out what’s on her mind. There are signs, when Kara’s about to say something important- her heart rate picks up, she gets more tactile than usual (which is saying something), and, most telling of all, she’s _quiet_. For _hours_.

So Lena’s not at all surprised when Kara breathes in deep, exhales slowly, and asks, “Still awake?”

Lena hums, snuggling against her. “I am. Are you going to tell me what’s bothering you?”

Kara snorts, carding her fingers through Lena’s hair absently. "It’s a little scary how well you know me.”

“Inspiring fear is part of my charm,” Lena says with a grin. When Kara just grins down at her, Lena knows she needs to press her a bit (she can’t have _both_ her girlfriends being moody- this house is too small for that). “What’s on your mind, love?”

Kara sighs, the smile slipping away into a frown as she stares off into the middle-distance. “You know I love you, right? Like, more than anything, or anyone.”

“Of course. And you know I love you, and you can tell me anything. Even if it’s daunting, because we can handle it together?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I know.” Kara breathes in, breathes out, and seems to steel herself before blurting, “I think I have a crush on your girlfriend.”

And for the second time today, Lena Luthor is taken totally by surprise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CLIFFHANGER FOR YOU HAPPY SUNDAY KIDS  
> As I said, there will be another chapter after this, so nobody panic. Or do, I guess. I'm not a cop.
> 
> Oh, and Kara's story about the mountain and her cousin, and Lena's about having someone's girlfriend walk in on her while she's in his shower? Yeah, both of those thing have happened to me (I promise the reason I was in his shower was totally innocent, and the girl is still one of my best friends 5 years later!)  
> If you want to hear either of those stories more in-depth, please feel free to yell at me in the comments below and over on Tumblr, where I am @deadbiwrites
> 
> Thank you and stay healthy and safe!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is not a good explanation for why there is now another chapter. Just know that there is one and postpone your plans for murder.

_day thirty-six (cont.)_

Andrea rarely has trouble sleeping.

Granted, her sleep schedule isn't quite as regular as the average person’s, due mostly to the fact that much of the business she conducts is halfway around the world. She’s been known to power through a night without sleep before, to close a deal or (in her younger days) cram for an exam with Lena in the library, empty paper coffee cups stren about like confetti at the world's worst party. 

But generally, when she puts away her work, and goes home to settle into bed, she’s asleep pretty quickly.

Tonight, however.

Tonight, she’s staring up at the ceiling, mentally calculating the risks of simply slipping out the door and heading back to her own apartment to wait out the rest of this catastrophe (and also the pandemic).

Sure, Lena will be pissed, probably, and hurt. Kara will be _confused_ and hurt, which seems almost worse, somehow. At least Lena would know why.

Because now, without a doubt, Lena _knows_.

And it’s so stupid. So, _so_ stupid. Trust Andrea to have a solid relationship with the love of her life for probably the first time ever, and then get a stupid crush on her other girlfriend. It’s exactly the sort of chaotic disaster behavior she’d hoped she’d left in her past.

But Kara is… something. Funny, smart, beautiful… and kind. Kind in a way that so few people in Andrea’s life have ever been. She’s just warm and considerate and generous and…

God. _God_. How was Andrea expected to not gravitate to that?

And now Lena knows, Andrea had seen the realization in her eyes (despite the haze of marijuana), that same _“Eureka!’_ look Lena gets when she solves a particularly vexing problem. Like a light goes on behind her eyes and lights up the room.

Andrea loves that look. Always has. Had actually decided to befriend Lena based _solely_ on that look, first spotted across the chem lab table when they were 15. It’s what’d first made her kiss Lena, first tell her she loved her…

And the worst part is, of this whole ‘having-a-secret-crush-for-weeks’ thing is that she can’t even tell her best friend about it, because her best friend is _Lena_ and that’s… that seems a bit insensitive, even to Andrea. And sure, they’ve talked about the whole ‘Andrea seeing other people’ thing, but honestly it’s never particularly interested her- she has Lena, and that's all she's ever wanted.

Until now.

And sure, when they’d met for that… very odd dinner almost a year ago, Andrea had acknowledged that Kara was, in fact, very good looking, although not quite Lena’s usual type- historically, she’s preferred brunettes. But Kara was a bubbly blonde writer who talked too much.

Definitely not Lena’s type.

Definitely not _Andrea's_ type.

And yet…

And yet.

She huffs in frustration, turning resolutely away from the ceiling and its lack of answers. Perhaps the wall would be better suited to her woes.

So they'd talked about it, about Andrea seeing other people, and it was fine- Lena didn't hold with hypocrisy, after all, and if she was allowed to date both Kara and Andrea, they should be able to pursue their own partners too.

It'd been a conversation that Andrea had tried (and failed) to snark away, but Lena had been adamant that they have it. So Andrea had stated rather plainly that she didn't really feel the urge, but if she ever did she'd keep Lena in the loop (for safety, if nothing else). And that'd been the end of it.

She can hear the low hum of the TV in the living room, the occasional clank of a pan in the sink. She’d stupidly shut herself in here when it was barely afternoon, and now she’s successfully tortured herself by locking herself in a room with her thoughts. 

And no food.

No food when she was _high_ , while the smell of fresh-baked bread and the sugar-spiced smell of sticky buns wafted in from under the door.

_'How pissed would Lena be, really, if I left in the middle of the night?'_

She knows good and well the answer is _'very extremely'_ , and that the chances of her being allowed in this house again (or in Lena's metaphorical bed for the foreseeable future) would be slim to none.

Although not being welcome here, and therefore having very limited (if any) interaction with Kara would certainly be one way to solve this problem…

And it _is_ a problem because Kara is sweet and pretty and _Lena's girlfriend_.

_'I really want us to be friends…'_

Andrea growls and flips over to face the opposite wall.

_'Stupid big, earnest eyes. Stupid smile. Stupid consideration. Stupid goddamn coffee…'_

“Fuck,” Andrea huffs.

**

“Run that by me again?”

Kara sighs and sits up, scrubbing a hand over her face. “I said, I think I have a crush on your other girlfriend.”

Right. That’s... Right.

And look, Lena’s not _completely_ ignorant, alright? (Just mostly.) She could tell that Kara and Andrea were getting closer, actually becoming friends, even, which is no mean feat when it comes to Andrea. They'd started seeking each other out, talking and hanging out without the other expressly inviting them to. And it’s been a relief, honestly, that they're getting along, and though Lena always suspected they would, there's a good deal of gratification in knowing that she was correct.

But still, this is not quite what she was expecting.

(Hoping for, maybe, but not expecting.)

“Lena I don’t- I’m not sure what to do,” Kara confesses quietly. “I didn’t even wanna say anything, but I didn’t wanna _not_ say anything, because that’s like _way_ worse, and I just… I’m sorry.” 

Lena blinks and sits up. “What are you sorry for?”

“This isn’t what I wanted to happen, at all. I mean, I wanted to like her, y’know, as a person, but not like _this_ . I know we’ve talked about me potentially seeing other people, and that always being part of the deal, but I also haven’t really even wanted to, y’know? And _this_ isn’t anything we talked about- us dating the same person, or even _liking_ the same person that way, and I’m kinda sorta _really_ freaking out, and I just don’t wanna blow us up, and I’m just so _sorry_ -”

Her voice steadily rises in pitch and intensity until she’s breathless and speaking so fast she’s blabbing all her air faster than she can suck it in, and all Lena can think to do is _squeeze_.

“Lena?”

“Shh. Take a breath,” Lena soothes, running a hand over her hair and trying to be as comforting as she can from such an odd angle. When Kara does, Lena waits a few moments until she’s confident enough to pull away enough to look Kara in the face. “Okay, so, a few things. One, you have _nothing_ to be sorry for okay?”

“But-”

“Did you act on it without talking to me?”

“Did I- no! Of course not, I’d _never_ cheat on you, Lena, I love you!”

Lena smiles slightly. “I know, Kara. That’s my point.”

“But I-”

“-didn’t do anything wrong. Not a thing. It’s not a crime to have feelings, Kara.” When Kara nods hesitantly, Lena moves on, taking the small victory there for what it is (for now). “Second, you like Andrea?” she asks, a teasing lilt to her voice that she just can’t resist.

Kara flushes a brilliant red and drops her eyes to her hands. “Kinda, yeah.”

“And you’re worried that I’ll be… upset.”

“Kinda, yeah.”

Lena nudges Kara gently. “Hey, look at me.” When Kara does, she smiles. “I’m not upset. At all.”

“Really?”

“Of course really.” Lena takes Kara’s hands in her own and gives them a firm squeeze. “You’re talking to me, okay? Just me. Nothing you say is going to change anything between us, unless you want it to.”

“You’re literally the best person ever, you know that?” Kara lets out a breath in a long gust, deflating and relaxing a bit. “I’m really trying to make words happen right now, I just don’t know what to say to feel less like an idiot.”

“Little chance of that happening, I’m afraid.” Lena _does_ laugh this time, and she’s gratified when Kara smiles and rolls her eyes fondly

“You’re so mean, why do I like you?”

“Well, new information leads me to believe that you like your women a little mean.”

“ _Okay,_ that’s so not funny!”

“Oh, darling, I beg to differ.” Lena chuckles as Kara huffs at her. “C’mon, talk.”

“‘Bout what?”

Lena rolls her eyes. “About your big, gay crush on Andrea.”

“Lena!” Kara takes in a deep breath, releases it slowly. “I just… I mean she’s really- are you sure you wanna talk about this? Isn’t it kinda, I dunno, weird for you?”

Lena shrugs. “Not particularly. I’ve talked to you about her before- was that weird for you?”

“No.”

“There you go.” Seeing that Kara’s still a bit hesitant, she softens. “Right now, I’m your friend, first. Okay? Just like always. You can talk to me.”

Kara nods, takes a deep breath, and… explodes. “Okay. So I just, um. I knew she was pretty, I mean, I’ve met her, and I saw pictures in your yearbooks, and stuff, but… wow. _Wow_ . And it's in like a 'mean-girl-you-crush-on-in-high-school' sorta way, except that she’s also really nice? But in a way that she almost doesn’t want you to mention it. And she’s really funny, in the same sort of way you are- that really wry, deadpan thing you both do- and she always acts surprised that I think she’s funny, which just makes it funnier. And she’s _crazy_ smart. And I dunno, between you talking about her and bumping into her and stuff, I knew I wanted to try to be friends with her even before we said she could stay here. I thought it'd be easier, y'know? For everyone- especially you- if we like, got along and were able to be around each other every now and again instead of it being all awkward. But after a while… 

"The more I got to know her, the more I liked her. She’s really kinda… awesome.” Kara blows out a derisive snort at her own rambling. "And I sorta thought I was _jealous_ of her, at first, because she was hanging out with you and stuff, and I was just all up in my feelings about that. But they weren’t actually bad feelings, I was just really happy that you’re so happy, that both of you are, and I felt that but I still felt something else, every time I saw you two together, and I finally figured out I wasn’t jealous of _her_ , I um… I liked her too, and- Jeez, am I even making any sense?”

Lena smiles fondly. “You sound a lot like me when I was a little bit younger, so yes.”

“Oh. And I just- I don’t know what to do, y’know, because like, I love you. God, wow, it’s crazy how much I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you- you know that?”

Lena hadn’t actually, but she’d certainly hoped. She swallows the burst of giddy glee in her throat, at least for the moment, and uses that energy to brush a lock of hair behind Kara’s ear. “I feel the same way.”

“I know,” Kara says easily, like it’s so _obvious_ that she and Lena are going to be together for whatever forever they might have. And maybe it is, and Lena’s just actually an idiot after all. “I… like I said, I wanted to talk to you about stuff because I’m crazy in love with you, but at the same point, I also really like _her_ , and I know you love her, and I don’t- I’d never want to mess anything up, for any of us. I mean, you guys have all this history and everything, and she’s all cool and amazing, and you’re so good together- and I think we’re good together too, don’t get me wrong, but that’s, y’know, 15 years or so of history here. And now here _I_ am, showing up _very_ late to that party all, _‘Hey I have a crush on you and I kinda wanna kiss your face, maybe.’_ And I just didn’t know how to bring it up.”

“You seem to have done alright,” Lena chuckles. “I mean, you definitely surprised me, I won’t lie, but I’m glad we’re talking about it- I could tell something's been on your mind.”

“Me too. I think that was the worst part of this whole thing, y’know? You’re my best friend, Lena. I don’t trust anyone more than I trust you, and this was the first time I ever felt like I couldn’t tell you something even though I needed to. And that just _sucked_ , because I’ve always told you everything, since basically the first time we hung out. Even the really bad, ugly stuff, and it was… it was really hard keeping a secret from you. Especially since I knew it was one I _really_ shouldn’t be keeping.”

Lena pulls her impossibly closer. “You can always, _always_ tell me things, okay? I always want you to tell me things, no matter what. I never want you to feel like you can’t talk to me about what’s going on with you.” She hesitates. “Was- did I do something, to make you think you couldn’t talk to me about this, Kara?”

“What? No! No, you didn’t, I just- it’s kind of an odd situation. I’ve never felt like _this_ before, and it was confusing.”

“Like what?”

“Like I wanted two different people. It’s _hard,_ trying to sort all that out in my head, and I was just kinda trying to get a grip on everything, I think.”

Lena arches a brow, fighting a smirk (and losing). “And you didn’t think that, perhaps, your girlfriend who is polyamorous and actively in two relationships would be able to help you figure it out a bit, maybe?”

Kara laughs, and it strikes Lena that she hasn’t heard Kara sound so free in days. “Wow, okay, so, I’m an idiot.”

“I wouldn’t say _‘idiot’_ ... _‘Dummy’_ maybe…”

Kara snorts, digs her fingers into Lena’s ribs, pulling a yelp from her. “You’re such a brat.”

“I’ve been getting that more and more lately...”

“I’m sure you deserved it.”

Lena hums noncommittally. “Maybe.”

(Definitely.)

Kara takes another deep breath. “So. That’s- yeah.”

“Yeah.”

“Are you mad?”

“How many times do I have to say no before you believe me?” Lena asks.

“Um… honestly probably a few more.”

“I’m not mad at you. About anything, and especially not about this. Thank you for telling me.” She punctuates this with a soft kiss to Kara’s hairline. There’s a few beats of silence before Lena asks the question she’s dying to. “So. What do you want to do?”

Kara’s brow furrows. “Do?”

“Do. What do you want to do about Andrea?”

“What do you mean?”

Lena sighs. “With Andrea. What’s the goal, here? Do you want to date her? Do you want to sleep with her, because if you _do_ -”

 _“Lena!”_ Kara laughs, dropping her head into her hands as her shoulders shake helplessly. “Why are you like this?”

"I was raised by my mother."

"... fair."

“So? Do you want to do anything, or do you want to ignore it? I’ll support you, whatever you want to do, I just need to know so I can strategize appropriately.”

“Of course you’re already planning,” Kara chuckles. “I don’t know. I think… I think I’d like to sorta, maybe, um, date her?” she meanders, eyes sliding carefully to Lena’s face. “If y’know, we were all on board with that, because obviously that part’s pretty important. But I don’t know if she’d even be open to that, or anything, so...”

Lena has to physically bite her tongue to hold back reassurances that from the looks she’s been giving Kara for weeks (which, admittedly, Lena herself has only noticed in retrospect), Andrea would likely climb her like a tree. Well, once she got over her own hangups, that is. Instead, she decides on the much safer, “Would you like me to talk to her?”

Kara rolls her eyes and snorts. “Lena, we’re not in middle school- I can talk to her myself.”

“But are you _going_ to?”

Kara hums thoughtfully. “I don’t know? I kinda wanna see if like, she’d even be receptive before I go and make things really awkward again, y’know? So maybe I’ll like, kinda test the waters. Is- that’s, if you’re still okay with… all this?”

_‘Okay, ecstatic... tomato-tomahto.’_

“Of course I’m okay. This is your thing, and I just want you to know that I support you, love.”

“I do know. It means a lot, that you always have my back. Even when I shock the hell out of you.” 

“Life with you has never been boring,” Lena agrees with a smile.

Kara leans forward to press a chaste, lingering kiss to her lips. “I love you, even though I’m kind of a mess right now.”

“I love you. Even when you’re kind of a mess.”

Kara smiles, nuzzles her nose against Lena’s. “You’re the best.”

“I know that.”

Kara chuckles. “And so humble, too.”

“My best quality.”

“Brat.”

“Dummy.”

They settle down again, quiet and content without a weight between them.

“Lena?”

“Yes, love?”

“You promise you won’t say anything to Andrea?”

Already knowing that she’ll regret it, Lena agrees, sealing it with a kiss. She waits a few minutes, until Kara drops into the deep sleep of recent emotional-release before carefully slipping out of bed.

_(technically) day thirty-seven_

She can’t find her _keys_.

Granted, she literally hasn’t used them (or even thought about them, really) in well over a month now, but still. They should be where she left them.

If only she knew where that _was_ …

Andrea sighs, tugs a hand through her hair. She was sure she’d kept them in her- _this_ room. It’s not hers- her room has high ceilings, a huge bed, and a legitimately breathtaking view of National City that she’d paid out the nose for. This isn’t her room, because this isn’t her _home,_ and that thought absolutely doesn’t make her hands stutter in their search for her _fucking keys_.

Maybe she’d put them in the kitchen, at some point?

She hefts the bag up onto her shoulder as she opens the door, grateful that the hinges are new (or at least well-oiled) enough that they don’t screech as she carefully pushes the door open. So at least she isn’t a total cliche. She pads quietly out to the main room and over to the table by the door, following a vague memory of where her keys _might_ be, maybe. Andrea shuffles aside the few papers and knick-knacks, finding Kara’s and Lena’s keys in a bowl, and now that she sees it she definitely remembers her keys being in here, so where the _fuck_ -

The kitchen light flicks on, flooding the room in warm yellow light, and Andrea blinks at the sudden onslaught to her retinas. Had she bumped the switch, or-

“You know,” a familiar, beloved, _very unwanted in this moment_ voice drawls, “it’s generally considered impolite to leave without saying goodbye.”

Lena’s perched easily on one of the stools at the kitchen island, a small glass of wine in one hand, and Andrea’s keys dangling from the other. Seeing what Andrea is sure is a very startled look on her face, Lena snorts. “I will say, you kept me waiting longer than I thought you would.”

_‘Shit.’_

“Lena- it’s- I’m not-”

“Leaving?” Lena asks wryly, pointedly looking at the bag on her shoulder before raising an unimpressed eyebrow. “Andi, after spending fully half my life loving you, do you honestly think I don’t know what you look like when you’re about to run?”

Andrea stiffens. “That’s not fair, and you know it.”

Lena shrugs, sips her drink. “Just calling it like I see it, honey.” She sighs, rolling the stem of the glass between her thumb and forefinger. “I don’t want to fight, alright? It’s already been an… interesting day. So please, go back to bed.”

This pulls Andrea up short. “Bed. Here.” A snort escapes, and she hates that it sounds half-hysterical.

“Yes, here, the same bed you’ve been sleeping in all month.”

Andrea takes a deep breath. “Lena-”

“Andi. I know. Secret’s out, though god knows how I missed it all this time.” Lena looks up at Andrea, and where she’d been expecting weariness, all she sees is fondness. And maybe some exasperation. “You weren't particularly subtle.”

Andrea swallows. “I’m sorry.”

Lena’s eyes close and she pinches the bridge of her nose “Don’t be. You haven’t done anything wrong. _Yet_ ,” she adds pointedly. “If you sneak out of this house and leave me to deal with Kara acting like a kicked puppy for the next god knows how long, however. Then you’ll need to apologize.”

Against her will, the corner of Andrea’s mouth ticks up into a smirk. “Is it still sneaking now that you’ve caught me…?”

“Andrea.”

The humor drops to give way to exhaustion. “Lena, I’ve imposed enough on both of you. _Clearly._ I think it’d be better if I left.”

Lena sighs, extending the keys that dangle from a crooked finger. “I’m not stopping you, Andi. You can leave, if you want to. I’d never want you to be uncomfortable, here, never force you to do something to make me happy. But I’m _asking_ you to stay.”

Andrea swallows hard, blinking rapidly. In all their years of on-again, off-again, someday-maybe-someday, and bad timing, Lena’s always understood. Has never made her do the big goodbye, because she knows that Andrea hates them. She’s always sent Andrea on to the next adventure or country or continent with a tight smile, a quick kiss, and shining eyes that she keeps dry, somehow, and never once had she asked her to stay, never made her make that choice.

“That’s not fair either,” she finally manages as Lena comes to stand in front of her.

Lena smiles, soft and lovely and everything Andrea’s ever wanted. “All’s fair... Go to bed, Andi.” She carefully cups Andrea’s face in her hands, strokes her thumbs feather-light over her high cheekbones. 

"Lena, _querida_ …"

“Please. Please go to bed.”

Lena doesn’t beg. Doesn’t plead, never asks anything of anyone else, and here she is at fucking four AM, teary-eyed in her kitchen, begging Andrea to stay. It’s this thought that makes Andrea slump; under the weight of too-heavy bags, a too-heavy heart, and a very long day. “Okay.”

Lena lets out a sound that’s somewhere between a sigh and a sob (and god, Andrea hates that sound, hates that she’s the one who’s responsible for it), pulling Andrea’s mouth to hers in a firm, fervent kiss before wrapping her in a tight hug. “Thank you.”

Andrea brings her own arms up and feels Lena sink into her. “Thank _you_. I’m sorry for being… me.”

“Don’t be- I’m usually pretty fond of you, when you’re not giving me a heart attack,” Lena laughs wetly. She pulls away, swipes under her eyes, and _god_ , Andrea feels like the scum of the Earth, but she’s smiling again. She steps back. “I’m- I need to get back to bed. But I’ll see you in the morning?”

There’s still hesitation there, Andrea feels it. She forces a smile. “I promise.”

_**_

“Hey, you.”

Andrea stirs awake when she feels someone slip into bed with her, cracking one eye just enough to determine that it’s Lena in the low light before throwing an arm around her and pulling her close. “‘s early.”

Lena shuffles closer, tucking her head under Andi’s chin and sighing quietly. “Kara accidentally woke me up when she went for her run. Bed was cold. Figured you wouldn’t mind.”

“I don’t,” Andrea hums. 

“Good.” Lena presses a soft kiss to the underside of her jaw, and Adrea’s asleep again before the lips leave her skin.

An hour or so later, she wakes up again with a jaw-cracking yawn, stretching as best she can with Lena half on top of her. 

Andrea takes a moment, in the filtered streams of early-morning sun, to really look at Lena. She looks at Lena all the time, really (how could she not?), but doesn’t often get the chance to look at her when she’s unaware of it. Lena’s always so aware of everything around her, it’s hard to catch her unguarded.

Still so pretty. So pretty after nearly 15 years and a lifetime of heartbreaks. Thick, heavy hair she hasn’t straightened in weeks- Andrea loves it like this, curly and a little wild. It’d looked like this until Lena’s second year of university, when she’d begun straightening it religiously. Lillian had said it’d make her seem more mature, and Lena had taken it to heart. (Andrea still prefers it curly.) There are faint hints of lines, at the corners of her mouth and eyes, and between her brows, signs of laughter and stress in turn. Andrea traces a fingertip just above them, wonders idly if Lillian will try to insist that Lena ‘take care of’ them. She snorts lightly. That’d be a very short conversation. 

Andrea's been finding that she likes this, the lazy do-nothingness of all their free(-ish) time. Usually when she wakes it's time to start the day. Even during this lockdown, she’s had a fair few conference calls early (working on Buenos Aires time while living in California is a bitch) and is usually up and about just after dawn.

But this…. She didn't realize that she's needed this. Just… time to be quiet. Peaceful, with Lena. Andrea runs the pad of her thumb feather-light over one of Lena's (annoyingly) perfect brows.

True to form, Lena stirs, brows drawing together as she blinks grumpily against the light coming in through the blinds. When Andrea chuckles, Lena presses her face to her chest, stubbornly attempting to shut out the light. “Shh. Sleepin’,” she murmurs.

“Sorry, honey.” Andrea bites her lip to hold back a laugh, though the way she shakes with the effort has Lena propping her chin on her chest and frowning deeply at her. “So cute,” Andrea croons at her, giving up the ghost and belly-laughing when Lena bites her collarbone lightly.

“You’re the worst,” Lena sighs, pulling away to scrub a hand over her face. She sits back on her heels and blinks at her surroundings. “Why do you get up so early?”

“Some of us have internal clocks, and don’t rely on seven different alarms _and_ another person to get us up on time,” Andrea reminds her fondly.

“Idiots. My system is flawless.”

Andrea pushes her lightly, sending a laughing Lena tumbling across the bed. “Tell that to your detentions for tardiness.”

“ _You_ were the one who kept me up!”

“Whose idea was that?”

Lena grumbles, which is as close as she’ll ever get to conceding the point, so Andrea takes the victory. 

Lena’s face grows a bit more serious, but no less fond, and she makes her way back to the head of the bed. “So, are we going to talk about this or are you going to run away?”

Andrea sighs, knowing that the moment of levity has passed. “Do you want the correct answer or the honest one?”

“Andi.”

“Fine. I like her. But then, you already knew that.”

“I did,” Lena confirms. “I really have no idea how I didn’t see it before yesterday.”

“Me either,” Andrea chuckles. She drops her gaze to the fingers she’s knotted together, _tsking_ at herself in annoyance before smoothing her hands over her thighs. “Your fidgeting is contagious, it seems.”

“I’ll work on it, Mom,” Lena snarks.

“Rude.”

“Andrea.”

Andrea sighs in frustration. “I don’t know what you want. I already told you, I tried to be an adult and leave the situation- bow out gracefully before I fucked it all up, what else do you want?”

“What do _you_ want?” 

Andrea scoffs. “That doesn’t particularly matter.”

“It does to me.”

Andrea’s eyes snap to Lena’s face, but when she finds only sincerity in Lena’s eyes, she loses a bit of the indignation steeling her spine. She sighs, scrubs a hand over her face. “I want what I’ve wanted for the past 15 years, _querida_. I just… god, why is it always me? Why is it always me fucking us up?”

“Hey, no, look at me,” Lena says, cupping Andrea’s chin and forcing her to look up. “You haven’t done _anything_ to us. Just talk to me.”

“And say what?”

Lena quirks a brow. “Is the truth too much to ask?”

“Unfortunately.”

“Andi-”

“Lena, I-” Andrea takes a deep breath. “I’ve only ever wanted _you_ , and I was- I never worried when you were with someone else, because I knew that one day, I’d have you again. That was- I never doubted us, not for a second. Not when we were far apart, not when we were broken up, not when you were with someone else. And I guess that’s kind of shitty, but I just- I’ve always known you were it for me. My end-all, be-all. And that’s been… Fuck, Lena, for half my life, that’s just been fact. The sun rises in the East, the sky is blue, and you’re _it_ for me. And now, we’re together, for the first time in god knows how long, and we’re happy, and we _work_ , for once, and I’m fucking it up _again_ by, get this, falling for your other girlfriend. Who I was _very_ sure I would hate, just on principle. So I don’t really think I get to have what I want, in this scenario.”

“What _do_ you want?” Lena pushes.

Andrea deflates completely, leaning into Lena’s touch. “I want you.”

“You _have_ me.” She runs her thumb over the sharp ridge of Andrea’s cheekbone. “What _else_ do you want?”

Andrea huffs again. “I don’t need anything else.”

Why Lena falls in love with such stubborn, hard-headed, self-sacrificing _idiots_ \- “Humor me.”

Andrea frowns at her, prickly at the repeated prodding. “What do you want me to say? That I want to fuck your sweet, pretty girlfriend? Will that help the situation, in your mind?”

_‘Finally, progress.’_

“Well, that depends.” Lena quirks a brow, lips ticking up as she fights a smirk. “Can I watch?”

Andrea snorts. “I always knew you were a pervert.”

“I’ve never denied that.” Lena shrugs, happy to have managed to break the building tension. Truth be told, she doesn’t think she can really deal with another deep, emotional conversation so shortly after her and Kara’s the night before, but she can certainly _annoy_ Andrea into telling her what she needs to know. “Have you finished your dramatic speech? Can I pick it apart now?”

Andrea lets out a surprised snort. “God, you’re mean. Why do I love you again?”

“I let you touch my tits when we were 15 and you never emotionally recovered.”

Andrea throws her head back and _laughs_ . “In my defense, they’re _great_ tits.”

“They are. So, first of all, you haven’t lost me, you idiot. I’m literally in your bed, _early_ , talking to you about my tits. You having feelings for Kara doesn’t change us.”

Andrea’s face gets stormy again. “I don’t _want_ to have feelings for her. I’m fine with the way things are.”

“Yes, clearly,” Lena snarks. When Andrea’s frown deepens, she sighs. “Andi, this isn’t going to work if you don’t talk to me.”

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

“What do you like about her?”

Andrea blinks at her, seemingly nonplussed. “She’s a hot young blonde with pornographic arms and legs for days- who _cooks_ \- what’s not to like?”

Lena snorts, slaps her lightly on the thigh. “She’s not a piece of meat.”

“Beg to differ. I’m Argentinian, I know quality beef when I see it.”

Lena cackles at this. “Jesus, you’re terrible.”

“I’ve _never_ denied that.” Andrea smiles at her, mischievous and bright. Sensing that she’s not going to get out of this conversation, she sighs. “She’s nice,” she finally says, thoughtful. “Kind. She had every reason to hate me, especially when all of this started- after all, here I was, and suddenly her girlfriend has another girlfriend. But she was- she’s always nice, and doesn’t want anything. Even before I knew what she actually did- oh, shut up, that entire situation was your fault!” Andrea huffs as Lena starts cracking up. “If you would’ve said _‘She’s a bestselling author’_ instead of _‘She’s a writer-’_ ”

“An author _is_ a writer!”

“ _In any case_ , she didn’t posture, or make me feel stupid for not knowing who she was, even when I offered to get her a job. She’s just… she’s nice when she doesn’t have to be,” Andrea finishes quietly. 

“That’s what drew me to her too,” Lena admits. “We were both being honored at something or other, and she was just really humble, and funny. Unpretentious, while being awarded a medal. It was refreshing.” Lena laughs suddenly. “She walked up to me toward the middle and said, _‘You look almost as miserable as me. Wanna get out of here?’_ And then she took me to this little hole in the wall and we had these amazing, greasy burgers and perfect fries...”

Andrea chuckles. “It was all over after that. You and your burgers...”

Lena grins. “Oh, absolutely.” Seeing Andrea smile and shake her head, she continues. “Kara is one of the best, warmest, kindest people I know. I can _definitely_ understand being drawn to that. Obviously.”

Andrea huffs a laugh. “I already like her, you don’t have to talk her up.”

Lena smacks her lightly on the arm. “You’re an ass. All I’m saying is that I get it.”

Andrea lets out a long, controlled breath. “You always get me.”

“Mmm. So, what do you want?”

“Well what I _wanted_ was to leave, but you pulled out your big sad eyes and wouldn’t let me…”

“Not sorry. What do you want? Because if you want Kara-” Andrea opens her mouth, and Lena cuts her off. “I know you want me, Andi. I’m asking if you want Kara, too.”

Andrea’s mouth closes. Finally, she clears her throat. “I do. But not if it means losing you.”

Lena barely represses the strong urge to roll her eyes. “Andi, you understand that you’re _already_ in a polyamorous relationship, right? And it’s not as though I don’t _like_ her, or something, so I’m really not sure what your hangup is.”

Andrea blinks, clearly startled at these _facts_. “Oh.”

Lena doesn’t suppress the urge this time, though the eye-roll is paired with a fond enough smile that it takes away some of the sting. “Yeah, _oh_. I really don’t know what all the drama is about, aside from you just liking attention.”

Andrea's attention snaps back and she narrows her eyes. “You’re one to talk, _querida_.”

“Fine, so we’re both melodramatic.”

Andrea chuckles at this. “Maybe a bit.” She studies Lena curiously. “You’re being serious, aren’t you? You don’t care.”

“I don’t know why you think I would.”

Andrea cocks a brow at this. “Past experience has taught me that you don’t like it when I touch your things.”

“First of all, Kara isn't my favorite hoodie, so the situation isn't quite the same. Second, I don’t like it when you _take_ my things and don’t ask first, I’ve never had a problem with _sharing_ with you. And, honestly the two of you also dating would really be my ideal situation- no pressure.”

Andrea snorts, face finally breaking into a hesitant but genuine smile. “So you’re saying go for it.”

“I’m saying that if concern over how I’d feel about it was your issue, it needn’t be. I just want us all to be as happy as we can be, whatever that looks like.” She laces her fingers with Andrea’s, giving her hand a grounding squeeze. “You jump, I jump, remember?”

Andrea hums as she mulls this over, though a smile is tugging at the corner of her mouth. “This is not what I was expecting when I was bullied into staying with you two.”

“What, falling for Kara?”

“No, having to talk about my feelings this fucking much.”

Lena’s still laughing when there’s a hesitant knock on the door. At Andrea’s _“It’s open!”_ , Kara’s face appears around the door, slightly ruddy-cheeked and sweaty from a very long morning run. She grins at them, eyes lingering for a moment before she clears her throat. “Hey, good morning, uh, just wanted to make sure Lena was here and hadn’t like, run away.” She misses the pointed look and eyebrow raise Lena directs at Andrea, as well as the elbow Andrea blithely jabs into Lena’s ribs. “Anyways, there’s coffee,” she finishes lamely, holding up Lena and Andrea’s (apparently assigned) mugs.

Andrea watches her hovering in the doorway with amusement. “You’re allowed to come in, you know. It’s your house.”

Kara flashes a quick grin and walks carefully toward the bed, concentrating on not spilling the steaming contents of the cups. “Well, yeah, but it’s _your_ room, so. Better to check first, right?”

Andrea smiles slowly, accepting the mug Kara hands to her and letting the ceramic warm her palms for a moment before setting it aside. “Right. I appreciate that.”

“Of course! I just um- well I’m gonna go take a shower, then breakfast?”

“Sounds good, love,” Lena tells her, accepting her own mug and a quick kiss with a smile.

Kara smiles at them both before departing with an awkward salute, closing the door behind with a soft click.

As soon as the door closes, Andrea sighs and drops her head into her hands. “ _Dios mio_.”

Lena chuckles. “What, did you get embarrassed in front of your crush?”

“No.”

“What then?”

Andrea lets out a long-suffering sigh. “She’s such a _dork_ . She’s _such_ a dork. Why do I want to sleep with her?”

Lena giggles, falling into Andrea’s side as her shoulders shake helplessly, the coffee in her hands threatening to spill onto the navy comforter with every twitch of her hands. “You get used to it.”

Andrea makes a noise of half-hearted dissent before disentangling herself from both Lena and the covers and rises up onto her toes in a satisfying stretch. She snags her mug from the bedside table and turns to Lena with a sly grin. “How does Kara like her eggs?”

Lena cocks a brow. “Since when do you make breakfast? Or _eat_ breakfast?”

“I can make breakfast,” Andrea huffs at her. “The girl is a walking stomach. Food is obviously her lo- god, just, how does she like her eggs?”

“Unfertilized," Lena deadpans. "Direct quote.”

Andrea laughs loudly. “I’d assumed as much, yes. You’re useless to me, Lena, I ask a simple question on how to win over your girlfriend...”

Lena watches her pad (barefoot and still scolding) out of the room, heart full of overwhelming fondness. 

_‘Maybe this will all turn out after all…’_

Andrea’s head appears around the edge of the doorframe. “I trust you know that what we talked about isn’t something I want you talking to Kara about?” she asks sternly, but Lena knows her well enough to clock the underlying thread of insecurity in her voice.

Lena smiles. “Of course.”

“Thank you, love,” Andrea smiles, relieved, and disappears again. 

Lena snorts, sipping her coffee and absorbing the last few minutes of lingering body warmth before she gets up.

_‘Honestly, it’s like they don’t think I can keep a secret.’_

_(technically) day forty-five_

“Sam. Sam, they’re making me crazy.”

_“Lena wha- you know it’s three in the morning, right?”_

Lena has the decency to be slightly ashamed. “Sorry.” Sam lets out a jaw-cracking yawn, shuffling and murmuring to someone before Lena hears a door click closed. Unable to help herself, she snickers. “Did I interrupt something?”

_“You mean besides a good night’s sleep? No.”_

“Then who’s-”

 _“Lena. You woke me up, because apparently someone is driving you insane, which I’m inclined to believe since it’s_ three in the goddamn morning _.”_

“Right, yes, sorry.”

Sam huffs a laugh. _“The only person in my bed is Ruby, idiot. Talk.”_

Lena sighs, pacing the flagstone patio around the pool. “I might be going crazy.”

 _“You’re dating two women and they’re both living with you. Your crazy train has_ long since _left the station, babes.”_

Lena snorts. “You may have a point.”

_“Of course I do. Now talk, so I can go back to bed and cuddle my kid. What’s going on?”_

“Right.” Lena debates whether to tell Sam the whole truth, for a brief moment, before deciding that _technically_ , they had each only asked her not to mention their feelings to the other. They hadn’t _specifically_ asked that she not tell Sam, and-

 _“Lena, if you don’t say anything in the next ten seconds I’m hanging up,”_ Sam informs her through another yawn.

“They like each other.”

A beat. _“And… you want them to… not? Do you like the awkward tension, because I gotta tell you, I’m-”_

“No, Sam, they _like_ each other.”

_“Yeah, I got that. Honestly I’m not surprised that they get along-”_

“Sam. They have crushes. On each other.”

A much longer silence, followed by, _“What, now?”_

“They- Kara and Andrea- like each other. As in, they are _interested_ in one another.”

_“... in real life, or are you telling me about one of your sex dreams again and I’m too tired to catch up?”_

“No, in actual real life. And I tell you something _one time_ to make you feel better about-”

And Sam starts laughing. No, not just laughing, _wheezing, cackling_ . _“Oh my god.”_

“I know!”

 _“No, I just- you do know that this is shit that only happens on like, The Bachelor, right?”_ Sam laughs, mirth ringing loud and bright in Lena’s ear.

Lena huffs. “My life is not a reality show.”

_“Not yet, but once I turn on my remote access to those cameras you have everywhere I’ll have a new favorite show. Your home security password is still ‘plumeria’, right?”_

“I hate you so much.”

_“You don’t. So, give me the juicy details- I’ve been stuck inside with a 14-year old for five weeks, I’ve seen less than zero action. You and your harem-”_

“Not a harem.”

_“Okay, sure, whatever. Tell me!”_

Lena sighs, dropping into a lounge chair. “There’s nothing fun to tell. Just that they’re making me crazy.”

 _“In a_ fun _way?”_

“I wish.”

_“Uh-oh. What are they doing?”_

“So…”

_day thirty-eight_

_“So what’s the difference between a tart and a torte?”_

_Kara’s eyes lit up. “Well, like, a tart is sorta like a pie; it has a crust- usually some sort of shortbread, and the French have a_ ton _of different shortbreads- and a torte is just sort of a fancy cake. And so is a gatteau, actually- the French should never have been allowed to name desserts-”_

_Andrea smiled, slow as molasses, chin cupped in her hand, eyes bright as she watched Kara gesticulate wildly as she got deep into French colonialism and its influences on French cuisine and the lasting impacts of it on those same former colonies today (Kara is nothing if not passionate, and Lena knows for a fact that Andrea’s a sucker for someone with passion). She’d just been wearing a t-shirt (one of Lena’s, which was once upon a time one of hers) and loose sweats, looking very soft and warm and Lena had been taking every opportunity to ogle her (of which there had been many, seeing as she’d been bent at the waist and leaned as far over the counter as she could get while still technically sitting, watching Kara work). It’d been overall a very good afternoon, in Lena’s very biased opinion._

_“-so now, there’s a lot of companies utilizing ‘ethical practices’ when it comes to the collection and manufacture of cacao, but like, can it really even_ be _ethical, y’know? I mean, what with the few hundred years of constant invasion and occupation and enslavement? After all, even with the more ethical practices, we’re still utilizing operations and practices that were forced upon these people,” Kara ranted. “And that’s not even to mention that most of the ‘ethical’ companies are still owned by white foreigners, not local communities, and that’s just a more modern form of- oh, gosh, I got kinda fired up, huh? Sorry."_

_Andrea blinked herself out of her stupor, and Lena coughed into her hand to cover a laugh. Andrea shot her a glare. "Why are you sorry?"_

_"I was kinda ranting at you and you had this look, like…"_

_“Like what?”_

_“Like- I dunno, actually, but it was like something.” Kara cracked a grin. "It wasn't quite an 'oh god why won't she shut up?' look, which is always good."_

_Andrea performed an admirable impression of nonchalance. “No, it’s not that- this is actually interesting. It’s just that when you were talking with your hands, you got chocolate on your face.”_

_Kara had flushed, swiping wildly across her face. “Oh, uh, that’s embarrassing- did I get it?”_

_Andrea shook her head and rose up onto the rung of the barstool, reaching out to cup Kara’s chin and tilt her head to the side, where she did indeed have a blot of chocolate ganache on her cheek. She swiped her thumb over it, wiping it away before sucking the smear of chocolate off the pad of her thumb. “There, got it.”_

_Kara's face had shifted between several interesting shades of red, ranging from a cute pink to vermillion. “Oh, um… thank you.”_

_Andrea shrugged, slouching back into the stool. “Anytime,” she said, winking and licking any remaining chocolate from her finger. “It’s delicious.”_

_Kara made a strangled sort of noise before turning away and almost sweeping everything off the counter._

_Lena’d eyed her sideways, eyebrow raised. “Really?”_

_Andrea shrugged again, smirking. “Work with what you’ve got.”_

_day thirty-nine_

_It’d been raining._

_No, not just raining, it’d been pouring, and thundering, to the point that there had been a few flash-floods and mudslides, and Kara had conceded that perhaps, going for a morning run was not the best idea._

_She doesn’t often not run, first thing in the morning, and it always leaves her a bit untethered. So Lena had (begrudgingly) gotten up with her, flopping down onto the couch and watching through heavy-lidded eyes as Kara had gone through her second choice of morning exercises- yoga._

_And Lena honestly had no issues watching Kara twist and bend and flex her way through several different poses. And Kara is… very aware of this- they’d gone to one of Lena’s yoga classes_ once _, and Lena had spent most, if not all of it, staring at Kara’s long, lean limbs and perfect, round,_ biteable-

_“Oh.”_

_Lena’s eyes had drifted from Kara in a standing forward bend (a move whose actual name she knew but always escaped her when presented with Kara in spandex) to Andrea, who was gaping rather openly from the hallway. She’d chuckled, smiling sleepily at her. “Alright there?”_

_Andrea’s eyes, still bleary from sleep (but brightening with awareness by the moment), narrowed at her. “Why?” she’d asked simply, gesturing helplessly to half-naked Kara doing some very impressive bending and stretching in the middle of the living room._

_“It’s raining, so no run today.” When Andrea’s eyes had darted to Kara, Lena waved a hand at her. “Don’t worry about her- headphones.”_

_Andrea had relaxed a bit, and took a moment to study Kara as she shifted slowly into a new pose, muscles moving smoothly under tanned skin. She’d sighed deeply. “The fact that she looks like she does and eats what she does and still moves like_ that _is truly unfair.”_

_Lena grinned. “I’m not complaining- I like the view.”_

_“So do I, but the point remains.” They watched Kara move serenely through a few more poses, eyes closed, humming along to music neither of them could hear. Andrea tilted her head, a soft fondness on her face. “She really is beautiful, isn’t she?”_

_“Inside and out,” Lena agreed._

_Andrea had smiled over at her for a moment. When she recognized Kara was doing a few cooldown stretches, she’d cleared her throat. “Coffee?”_

_“Please.”_

_She moved off to the kitchen, fussing with the (still impossible) coffee maker and shifting things around._

_Finally finished, Kara opened her eyes, smiling over at Lena. “Hey, babe.”_

_“Hey. You were looking good, there. Gave me quite a show,” Lena said, waggling her eyebrows suggestively. “Now how about breakfast?”_

_Kara snorted at her. “You’re insatiable.”_

_“Mm, my second best quality.”_

_Kara giggled, leaning into Lena’s space and drawing her into a long, lingering kiss. “Thanks for getting up with me.”_

_Lena tucked a damp lock of hair behind her ear. “Always.”_

_Kara’s eyes moved to where Andrea was. “I do have a question, though.”_

_“Shoot.”_

_“Why’d you tell her I had headphones in? You know I don’t.”_

_Lena quirked a brow at her. “Why’d you play along?”_

_Kara had pondered this. “Touché.” She’d snuck another peek over Lena’s shoulder before lowering her voice even further. “She thinks I’m pretty.”_

_Lena chuckled. “I think she used the word ‘beautiful’, actually. And you are.”_

_Kara’s grin had widened to goofy proportions. “Cool.”_

_day forty_

_“Does Andrea not like my cooking?”_

_Lena looked up from her book, blinking up at Kara from behind the heavy lenses of her glasses. “No?”_

_“She doesn’t?! Crap!”_

_“No, that’s not- why would you think that?”_

_Kara had blown out a frustrated breath. “Well I- every time I’ve gone to cook this week,_ she’s _insisted on doing it! Like, won’t let me even help! How am I supposed to impress her if she won’t let me? Food is like, my whole thing! It’s all I’ve got!”_

_Lena had barely bitten back a bark of laughter. “I’m sure she’s just trying to be nice, and your cooking, while excellent, is definitely not your only asset, love, or even your best one.”_

_Kara frowned at this, crossing her arms and flopping down moodily. “Sure.” She dropped her head to her hands and groaned. “What if I’ve been cooking like an idiot this whole time and everything is bland?! God, we should just throw everything in the spice cupboard away- even salt is probably spicy to me.”_

_“Mm. Well, now that you mention it-”_

_Kara’s head popped up, eyes wide. “No!”_

_“Kara!” Lena laughed, grabbing her wrists and pulling her close. “You’re being ridiculous. She said she wanted to help more around here, you know that.”_

_And she had said that, but Lena knew it for what it was- a thin excuse to attempt to woo Kara with food. Which would absolutely work on a normal person, but Andrea had cooked every meal so far this week, and had refused to let Kara so much as stir a pan of sauce or chop a vegetable. And between Alex and Lena, both disasters in their own right when it came to the culinary arts, she’d learned to express her love through food. It was, for lack of a less cheesy term, her love-language- if Kara cooked a meal for you, you were important to her. But being banned from her domain wasn’t sitting well with her._

_And Kara was downright mulish when she wanted to be. “But I was gonna cook for her- for both of you.”_

_Lena chuckled, cupping Kara’s cheek and pulling her into a kiss. “I guess you’ll just have to be quicker next time.”_

_Kara grumbled grumpily under her breath before an idea apparently occurred to her. “Hey, what- is there something- no, sorry, that’s probably too far, sorry.”_

_“Hey, what?”_

_Kara huffed, eyes anywhere but Lena’s face. “I think I need… help.”_

_“Help,” Lena drawled. “Help with… Andrea?”_

_“Kinda, yeah.”_

_Lena smothered a grin with a strategic lip bite. “You want me to help you with Andrea?”_

_“Is- that’s too weird, isn’t it?”_

_Lena bobbled her head side to side. “No, but I don’t want to betray her confidence. Seems sort of like letting you copy 15 years of my homework.”_

_Kara puffed her cheeks out and sighed, conceding the point. “I just don’t- I have no idea how to impress her. I can’t even tell if she likes me.”_

‘And how could you? She cooks, compliments, and jokes with _all_ the people she barely tolerates…’

_“Be yourself,” Lena told her. “You're plenty impressive all on your own, Kara Danvers.”_

_Kara rolled her eyes. “You’re just saying that because you’re my girlfriend and you love me and stuff.”_

_“There is that, but it also happens to be true,” Lena said, sealing the words with a firm kiss. “Go make dessert before she burns down the house- she can’t bake to save her life.”_

_Kara grinned and hopped to her feet, making her way out to the kitchen. Upon her arrival, Andrea attempted to banish her once more, to which Kara responded by putting her hands on Andrea’s hips and lifting her easily, turning to deposit her away from the oven and out of the way. She’d turned her back to Andrea then, chattering on about some ice cream dish she’d been wanting to make and completely missing the absolutely gobsmacked look on Andrea’s face at being manhandled so casually- and easily._

_“Mind if I help prep?” Kara asked, having already pushed her sleeves to her elbow and pulled a chef’s knife and a sharpening steel from the block on the counter. The muscles in her forearms danced as she carefully dragged the blade over the steel to tune up the edge a bit._

_“I, um. No, that’s fine,” Andrea stammered, still staring._

_“Good! Okay, chef, what are we making?”_

_And Andrea had scoffed and called Kara an idiot, and Kara had just grinned and gotten deep into a discussion about the (surprisingly interesting) history of the potato._

_Lena watched Andrea become more and more taken with Kara the more fired up she got about tubers, shoulders relaxed, eyes soft, and- yeah, Kara didn’t need Lena’s help wooing Andrea. She was doing fine on her own._

_day forty-two_

_“I have returned, and I have food! I even managed to actually find everything on the list!” Kara crowed, bustling inside laden with several grocery bags._

_Lena smiled over at her. “Good! Do you need any-” her words are cut short as one of the bags Kara is carrying splits open, spilling its contents (several avocados, a pineapple, and a bag of apples) across the floor. Lena eyed Kara with fond exasperation. “You don’t have to carry everything all in one trip, you know.”_

_“Pfft, first of all, that was a product defect, and I refuse to be blamed for it, and second, yes I do, because I’m not a quitter.”_

_Andrea’s laughter rang out from where she was lounging on the loveseat, one of Kara’s books open in her lap. “I feel that if the food is damaged, you still lose.”_

_“See? Finally some sense in this house.”_

_Kara blew a raspberry at both of them. “Okay, I don’t need you ganging up on me. And I didn’t take all of it on the first try, there’s still stuff in the car.”_

_“I’ll help,” Andrea said, rolling to her feet and into a stretch, arms extended to the ceiling as she groaned. Her shirt rode up, displaying a sliver of her toned stomach, and Lena loved that she felt comfortable enough here to wear an old shirt from her uni days around the house._

_“Oh, hey, no, you don’t have to-”_

_Andrea huffed at her, crossing to the door to slide on a pair of flip flops that absolutely didn’t belong to her. “I eat the food, I can help bring it inside.”_

_“Oh, um, that’s-”_

_But Andrea had already slipped out the door, leaving Kara still protesting in her wake._

_Lena tipped her head to the side quizzically. “You’re being weird,” she decided._

_“What, I- I just got home, how am I already being weird?” Kara asked with a distinctly weird laugh._

_Lena’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “I’m not sure, but you’re managing.”_

_Kara opened her mouth to reply when Andrea walked back in, several bags in one hand and… flowers? in the other. She deposited the bags in the kitchen. “That’s the last of it. And I feel like_ these _probably belong to you,” she said to Lena with a wink, handing the bundle of flowers to Kara._

_Kara’s ears burned. “Um, sorta, yeah.” She shuffled over to Lena and presented her with an assortment of bright blooms._

_“Thank you,” Lena said, smiling wide. Kara usually made it a point to get Lena flowers whenever possible, something she didn’t realize she’d been missing._

_“Of course! I’m sorry I haven’t gotten any on the other trips, those ones just didn’t look as nice, y’know? And, I didn’t wanna get you ugly flowers, so. I should’ve just gotten them anyways, huh?”_

_Lena just grinned and shook her head fondly, pulling Kara in by the shirt for a quick kiss. “I’d love them if they were dandelions.”_

_“You’re both very cute,” Andrea drawled from the kitchen, already unpacking some groceries. “Although I will say that two bouquets is too many for a Tuesday.”_

_Lena hadn’t noticed that Kara was still white-knuckling a bunch of flowers, and she stuck her nose in her own flowers to smother a grin, having a fairly good idea of what was about to happen._

_“Um, these are actually for you,” Kara said, clearing her throat as her cheeks turned pink._

_Andrea stopped rustling around in the bags and blinked at her. “I’m sorry?”_

_Kara went even more red. “I just- I know they’re just, y’know, grocery store flowers, but I got the prettiest ones I could find. And besides, I got some for Lena, and I didn’t wanna like,_ not _get you some, because everyone should get flowers once in a while, right?” She shuffled her feet a bit awkwardly, but her smile was hopeful as she extended the flowers to Andrea._

_It was so cute Lena thought she might die._

_Andrea took the flowers cautiously, fingers crinkling the brightly colored cellophane wrapping as she pulled them to her chest. She studied them for a moment, a slow smile breaking across her face. “Thank you, Kara.”_

_Kara was_ beaming _. “Yeah! Um, I just got you the same ones I got Lena- I didn’t know if you had a favorite, or anything, but- I hope they’re okay? If they’re- if you don’t like them, that’s fine, I just-”_

 _Evidently sensing an impending ramble, Andrea stepped forward and wrapped Kara in a hug, taking care not to crush the flowers in her hand. Kara’s words were caught in her throat at the unexpected move, and she moved her arms around Andrea, instinctually bundling her up in a hug. Kara’s chin rested on the crown of Andrea’s head as she grinned over at Lena, practically vibrating in place._ ‘It worked!’ _she mouthed. Lena clapped a hand over her mouth to hold back a laugh at Kara’s open delight._

_Eventually, Andrea pulled back. “Thank you, Kara. You didn’t have to.”_

_Kara kept smiling, big and warm and painfully earnest. “I know, but I wanted to.”_

_Andrea huffed at her, popping up on her toes to press a quick kiss high on Kara’s cheek before stepping out of her space. “You’re very sweet, Kara Danvers. Where do you keep the vases?”_

_Though Kara didn’t see it from her angle, Lena could see that Andrea’s face was a_ very _vibrant red._

_“Uhh… um, sorry, they're up over where the fancy dishes are,” Kara stammered, pointing vaguely toward the kitchen._

_“Thank you._

_Kara nodded, catching her glasses as they slipped from her nose and replaced them sheepishly when Andrea and Lena laughed at her. “I meant to do that.”_

_“Smooth,” Andrea chuckled as she filled a vase with water.._

_“I can be smooth!” Kara protested. “So smooth! Silky, even!”_

_“She can,” Lena agreed. “When she’s in the zone, she’s downright slick.”_

_Andrea scoffed at them. “I’ll believe that if I ever see it,” she drawled, placing the flowers into their new home and looking up at Kara. Almost immediately, a smug smirk tugged at her mouth. “You have a little something on your cheek there,_ slick _.”_

_Kara’s brow furrowed as she wiped at her face, frown shifting to utter bewilderment when her fingers came away tinted red._

_Andrea shrugged, passing her a napkin. “Sorry about that. Forgot I was wearing it.”_

_Kara’s face turned redder than the lipstick smeared on it._

_Lena snorted as Andrea tossed her a wink on her way back to the couch and her book. Kara can absolutely be smooth when she puts her mind to it, it’s true. She’d certainly swept Lena off her feet in almost no time at all, simply by being her charming self._

_Andrea, however, well..._

_Andrea is always smooth._

_present_

_“Okay, I have to tell you, this is a lot of information to process at three AM.”_

Lena blows out a breath. “Tell me about it. Sorry for dumping all this on you, but there's no good way to tell someone _‘my girlfriends want to make out with each other, how do I make it happen?’_ ”

_“I didn’t- are you okay with all this?”_

Lena snorts. “ _Emphatic_ yes. If all this actually works out, it would literally be my ideal situation.”

_“Noted. So what am I helping with, exactly…?”_

“Sorry, just- they both asked me not to tell the other that they were interested, and it’s making me _insane_ , because neither of them knows that the other is flirting and they keep checking in with me every three minutes like they think I’ll change my mind... So, this is me asking for help with making my girlfriends woman up so I can-”

_“Lena, I swear on all that is good and holy in this world, if any part of what you are about to say involves being the meat in a girlfriend sandwich, I am hanging up on you forever.”_

It's so unexpected and so perfectly _Sam_ that Lena lets out an involuntary laugh, covering her face with a hand. “Jesus Christ. Fuck, I love you.”

 _“Hey, keep it in your pants, Luthor- your dance card is full as it is.”_ When Lena’s chuckles subside, Sam hums thoughtfully. _“They really both asked you to keep it a secret?”_

“Unfortunately,” Lena grumbles.

_“Well you’re doing a great job so far.”_

“Alright, first of all, they only asked me not to tell the other one, so _technically_ -”

_“Yeah, yeah, I’m familiar with your penchant for loopholes. Hmm… I mean, you could always just announce that you want to have a three-way. That’d be pretty simple. And it’s not like either of them would say no.”_

“Honestly normally I’d think you were joking, but this is getting to a point where that almost seems like a good idea.”

_“Damn. Are you at least getting any while all this is going on?”_

Lena snorts. “Yeah, _that_ has not been an issue…”

_day forty-four_

_“Kara, we’re-_ god! _Okay. Kara, we’re not, um-”_

_“Not what?” Kara asked, lips dragging wetly against Lena’s neck. Her tongue slid hot and slick over the straining tendons as Lena’s head fell back against the cupboard with a dull thud._

_She’d abandoned the vegetables she’d ostensibly been prepping and boosted Lena up here a few minutes ago, when Andrea had gone to take a video call in the office, and had been doing a very thorough job of driving Lena crazy. She stood between Lena’s splayed legs, one hand hooked behind Lena’s knee, dragging her forward to the edge of the countertop so the apex of her thighs was flush with the firm muscle of Kara’s stomach. The other was slowly snaking its way up her torso, rucking her shirt up carelessly in pursuit of-_

_“Shit,” Lena breathed, rolling her hips up into Kara’s pressing weight as Kara’s sinfully hot mouth nipped and sucked lower and lower. “We- we probably shouldn’t be doing this in the kitchen.”_

_“Why not in the kitchen?” Kara rumbles against her collarbone. “This is where all the other food is.”_

_“Jesus.”_

_There are any number of good reasons. Lena knows them, somewhere, deep in the increasingly foggy recesses of her brain. Because this is where food is prepared, because it’s not sanitary, because Andrea could walk out any second and-_

‘Oh. Oh, that’s an interesting thought.’

_Lena sunk a hand into Kara’s thick blonde hair, tugging her up to lick into her mouth with a breathy moan. She could feel Kara shiver against her as nails dragged over her scalp, feel the way Kara’s strong fingers dug into her just a bit harder, the way her strong, lean body shifted and moved to get Lena where she wanted her. And god, Lena’d missed this. She’s hardly been chaste these last few weeks (quite the opposite, in fact), but still, it’s- it almost felt like a routine, at that point. She’d missed the spontaneity of a heated makeout in the kitchen, or a rushed quickie at the office (when the plan was supposed to be lunch). Kara and Andrea have never failed to make her feel wanted, but things had been lacking that sense of ‘I-need-you-right-now’ urgency these last few weeks._

_And, well… Kara was doing an excellent job living up to her own high standards._

_“Kara-”_

_“I’ve missed you,” Kara murmured. “I miss getting to see you like this.”_

_It’s like she lives in Lena’s head, sometimes. “I do too,” Lena admitted, gasping as Kara’s mouth moved lower once more. “Didn’t quite realize it.”_

_Kara hums, whether in agreement or because her mouth is otherwise occupied, Lena isn’t sure. What she is sure of is that her shirt is now_ fully _unbuttoned (when had that happened?), and the shirt is pushed down and tangled around her upper arms and Kara’s sinking lower, lower, lips drawing heavy and hot over her stomach as she dropped to her knees and-_

 _"Sweetheart, much as I’m-_ mm! _\- enjoying this, Andrea could walk in any second."_

_Kara looked up at her with a wicked grin, popping the button on Lena's jeans. "So? She’ll get dinner and a show. Well, a show and then dinner- I’m not done cooking yet."_

_It'd all been a bit of a blur after that. Her jeans were tugged at and Lena managed to settle her weight on her hands and lift her hips enough to help, and she could feel Kara’s hot breath on the slick skin of her upper thighs-_

_“Oh, hey, sorry.”_

‘Sorry? Why is Kara saying sorry?’

_Lena blinked, realizing belatedly that her eyes slipped closed at some point. When she managed to focus, she saw Andrea standing stock-still in the hallway, eyes wide, cheeks flushed. Unsure of what else to do, Lena at least registered enough to loosen her hold on Kara’s hair, which earns her a grateful smile and-_

_A wink?_

_“...didn’t realize you’d be done so soon,” Kara continued, slightly sheepish as she rolled smoothly to her feet and helped Lena tug her shirt and jeans back into place. And damn her for always managing to look so perfectly disheveled, with her dark blue eyes and haphazard curls and handsome face and kiss swollen lips that-_

‘Focus, Luthor.’

_Andrea, at least, regained her ability to speak. “I should be apologizing. The issue was a lot simpler to fix than I initially thought, so…” She cleared her throat as Kara carefully settled her hands around Lena’s waist and lowered her back down to the floor._

_“Good!” Kara enthused with a wide, warm smile. If Lena didn’t know any better she’d think she’d imagined the past 20 minutes. "I know this whole thing has kinda kneecapped your plans for the rollout, but at least you're getting more time for QC and bug checks, right?"_

_Andrea blinked at her, thoughts clearly somewhere besides on her work. “Yes, we’re using the extra time to our advantage,” she finally said._

_“Good plan,” Kara agreed. “Always a fan of using time wisely.”_

_Andrea cocked a brow, gaze shifting to Lena as a hint of a smile cracked across her face. “I’d noticed.”_

_Kara’s grin widened infestimentally. “Dinner should be ready in about half an hour.”_

_“Do you need any help?” Andrea asked._

_Behind Kara’s back, Lena snorted and rolled her eyes._

_Kara grinned and spread her arms out as if to block Andrea from entering the kitchen. “Shoo, go watch TV, or something. I haven’t gotten a chance to show off all week.”_

_“Ah, that’s what all this is, a craving for validation,” Andrea snarked, though her smile undercut the bite of her words._

_Kara laughed aloud. “I’m literally a writer and a cook. I tell stories about myself for attention. I have not been hiding this.”_

_Andrea scoffed at her good-naturedly, conceding and moving off to the living room._

_Lena waited until the TV came on to swat Kara on the ass. “You’re a little shit,” she informed her. “This is the meanest thing you’ve done to me in- maybe ever.”_

_Kara’s grin turned apologetic. “I know, I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to you later.”_

_“You better,” Lena grumbled, leaning up for a kiss._

_Kara met her lips with a happy hum. “I will.”_

_Lena moved off to the living room, settling beside Andrea on the couch and utterly unsurprised when Andrea shuffled and shifted until Lena was sitting sideways, half on her lap, Andrea’s arms wrapped firmly around her waist. “Comfortable?” she asked wryly._

_Andrea’s eyes narrowed playfully. “Not as comfortable as_ you _were in the kitchen. Sorry for the interruption.”_

_“Believe me, so am I,” Lena joked, feeling Andrea’s answering chuckle vibrate against her._

_“That was quite a display on your part, though,_ querida _,” Andrea murmured against Lena’s neck, drawing a shiver from her._

_“Display?”_

_“Don’t be coy- doing_ that _where I could catch you. It was pretty clever, to be honest, but probably not all that fair to your girlfriend.” There was a note of admonishment to her voice, as though_ Kara _was the innocent and wronged party in this equation._

_Lena snorted. “That wasn’t me.”_

_Andrea pulled away slightly, brows furrowed. “What?”_

_“That, back there? Not my doing. I actually told her to slow down, in case you walked in.”_

_This seemed to stump Andrea. “What did she say?”_

_“Honey, I was half-naked and she was on her knees taking my pants off. What do you think?”_

_Andrea stared at her for a long moment before clearing her throat and licking her lips. “Ah.”_

_Lena (perhaps spurred on by her rising frustration with this entire situation) decided to elaborate. “I think she said something about ‘dinner and a show…’”_

_She watched as Andrea’s eyes darkened. “I’ll give her a show…”_

_Lena yielded happily as Andrea moved in for a bruising kiss, the fingers at her waist digging a bit possessively before slipping under her shirt. Lena cupped Andrea’s jaw, tipping her head a bit as the intensity of the kiss continued rising, Andrea’s perfect teeth nipping at Lena’s lower lip before sucking it, soothing the sting with her tongue and delving deeper. Andrea’s hand slipped lower, sliding into the back of her jeans and squeezing. Lena moaned happily into her mouth, feeling Andrea grin against her lips, all-teeth, before nosing at her, urging Lena to tilt her head, painting her cheek and neck and jaw with wet, open-mouthed kisses._

_Lena had a wild thought, for a moment, that she hasn’t had a hickey in almost a year, and felt a sudden and overpowering urge to ask for one, for an end to this odd unspoken agreement between Andrea and Kara that they won’t mark her up. It’s a respect thing, and she’s understood that. She doesn’t even particularly like having hickeys, but the idea of it in that moment has much more of a draw than usual._

_Before she could vocalize this particular thought, a short laugh drew her attention. She turned to see Kara’s hair whirl as she spun around to face away from the living room. “Sorry! Um, food!” Kara called, clearly trying not to laugh._

_Andrea dropped her forehead to Lena’s shoulder with a growl. “Great, thank you.”_

_Lena herself was more preoccupied with the fact that once again, she was not going to be getting what she (by this point) desperately needed._

‘Twice. Twice in an hour.’

_Andrea lifted her head. “Sorry, honey.”_

_“So am I,” Lena muttered crossly. “If you two are going to keep using me like this, I’d appreciate at least actually getting_ used _once in a while.”_

 _Andrea huffed a laugh, but Lena could read the guilt in her eyes. “I_ am _sorry. You’re right, that’s not fair.”_

_“It isn’t,” Lena agreed grumpily. “Because now I have to get through dinner like… this.”_

_“I’ll make it up to you,” Andrea husked against her ear._

_“I’ve been hearing that a lot recently,” Lena grumbled._

_Andrea chuckled as they disentangled, pulling Lena to her feet and straightening her clothes a bit. They made their way to the dining room, where Kara was attempting to carry everything to the table by herself and was having some mixed results._

_“You’re going to drop something,” Andrea scolded, strutting forward and snagging away a bowl of mashed potatoes._

_“I almost_ did _drop it a second ago,” Kara laughed, tipping her head back toward the couch. “Wasn’t expecting that.”_

_Andrea shrugged nonchalantly, though she was still a bit flushed when she flashed Lena a grin and a wink. “Couldn’t resist.”_

_Kara hummed as she settled the dishes across the table. “I can’t blame you- she’s looking especially good today.”_

_Andrea turned to study Lena, half-frozen across the room, electric blue eyes raking her up and down. “She does, doesn’t she.”_

_Kara nodded, sending a grin Lena’s way. “Very pretty. She always looks good in red.”_

_“True,” Andrea agreed. “Absolutely your color,_ querida _.”_

 _In retrospect, Lena was not wholly prepared to ever have both of them looking at her like_ that _simultaneously. It set her on fire and made her vision haze at the edges. She managed to roll her eyes at them. “Flatterers.”_

_“Just because it’s nice doesn’t mean it’s not true,” Kara reminded her gently, something she’s said to Lena countless times in their relationship. “You’re gorgeous.”_

_“Seconded, honey.”_

_Lena could feel herself blushing. “You’re going to inflate my ego beyond reason.”_

_“The horror,” Andrea deadpans. “Come eat."_

_present_

_“Well. I feel more acutely single than ever before.”_

"Sorry."

_"Don’t be. This is better than TV."_

Lena rolls her eyes fondly. “You’re ridiculous.”

_“I’m a responsible adult with a teenage daughter. I’m allowed to be ridiculous.”_

Lena laughs. “I _really_ miss you.”

_“I miss you too. And so does Ruby- she’s been bugging me to video call you so she can get help with her science homework.”_

“I’d love that,” Lena says with a smile. “I miss her.”

There’s a long beat of silence that they both allow to stretch to two, before Sam yawns. _“So what’s the plan?”_

Lena sighs. “I honestly have no idea. I mean, I understand that they’re both being cautious, and honestly I appreciate that they’re taking all of this so seriously. But I also just _really_ -”

_“Wanna watch your hot girlfriends make out?”_

Lena laughs, deep and loud. “Is that so wrong?”

_“Hell no. If I had two hot girlfriends I’d make them wrestle naked covered in oil, so as far as I’m concerned you’re the picture of restraint.”_

“Well I appreciate that. And also, I bet if you _actually_ gave dating a shot, you’d be able to take your pick of oil wrestlers.”

_“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Single-shame me when there’s not a global pandemic.”_

“Fair point.” Lena chews her lip for a moment. “It’s so odd, to be worrying about _this_ with everything going on, isn't it?”

 _“You’re not a bad person for continuing to be a person when bad stuff is happening,”_ Sam says, knowing exactly where Lena’s going. _“The only thing that makes this entire thing bearable is knowing that it isn’t forever, so don’t feel bad for thinking about something other than… well, everything. And thank you for calling- honestly hearing your relationship drama is the highlight of my week. Even though it’s now four AM.”_

Lena huffs, at once chagrined at being so easy to read and relieved to have Sam, who always knows what to say. “You’re a good friend.”

_“I know. So what are you gonna do? Because it sounds like they’re just kinda openly flirting at this point but they’re both too scared to actually make a move.”_

“That’s… accurate. Honestly, all this isn’t even counting all the accidentally brushing up against each other, or the flirty comments, or the _‘Wow, you’re so strong’_.”

Sam snorts. _“Oh, Andrea, you thirsty bitch.”_

“Yes. But every time they do something and actually get a positive response, they get- I don’t even know. They get clingy with _me_ , suddenly, which is just-”

_“Fucking confusing for everyone?”_

“Yes.”

_“Sounds like they’re nervous to me.”_

“I know they are, but I have no idea how to help them both past it _without_ betraying anyone’s confidence. Because despite this conversation, I would like to avoid that if at all possible.”

_“You’re a good girlfriend. Alright, hmm… maybe try a family meeting?”_

Lena arches a brow. “A what?”

 _“Family meeting. You all get together, hash stuff out, usually over food- did you seriously never do that with your-”_ Sam seems to realize the absurdity of the question on her own and sighs. _“Of course you didn’t, sorry. Have I mentioned recently that your mom’s an asshole?”_

“Not today, no,” Lena chuckles. 

_“Well she is. Anyways, that’s one way to go about it, though it can be a bit of a hotseat situation, sometimes.”_

Lena sighs tiredly. “I don’t want that either. I want them to both be comfortable and get there on their own, not put them on the spot and hope for the best.”

_“Yeah, that’s probably the right call. Honestly, babes, you might have to just suck it up and let them figure it out.”_

Lena groans, flopping back on the deck chair. “I was afraid you’d say that.”

 _“Well I mean, there’s always the_ ‘I want to have a three-way’ _option…”_

Lena snorts. “I think I’ll save that as a last resort.”

 _“Suit yourself.”_ She yawns again. _“Much as I love plotting how to get your girlfriends to rail you and-slash-or each other, I_ really _need to get back to bed.”_

“Okay. I love you. Tell Ruby to call anytime about math or science, but for english she should go with-”

_“Kara. She knows. I love you too, Lena. Try not to die of sexual frustration- your eulogy would be really embarrassing.”_

Lena rolls her eyes with a smile. “I’ll do my best. Goodnight.”

_“Night.”_

_day fifty-one_

Lena’s been doing her best. She’s been being patient and reassuring, making sure they know they have her support at every turn (just not how _much_ she supports their endeavors, as that seems like influencing them, somehow), wing-womanning her girlfriends to each other for two weeks, and to be totally honest, she’s going a bit insane.

Because they like each other. A _lot_. Even if they hadn’t told her, there’s no way she could miss it. 

She just doesn’t know how _they’re_ missing it.

Because between Kara taking every opportunity to ask about Argentina and Andrea’s work, and Andrea taking every opportunity to squeeze between Kara and seemingly any object (yesterday had been the refrigerator door- while it was open, and no one else was in the kitchen) and talk foodie to her, and her trying to help them with... each other, it's been a lot. There have been several texts and emails to Sam that Lena is not at all proud of.

Lena was a bit worried, at the beginning of this new venture, as it were, that she’d get a bit jealous (she's only human, and though she is generally able to move away from that particular feeling she's certainly not immune to it), and she very well might have, had they each not seemingly made it their mission to reassure Lena that they still very much want her, too.

The night they’d caught each other with Lena had apparently opened some sort of floodgate none of them had been aware of- for the past several days, they’ve been pulling Lena into bathrooms for showers and into the garage for a quickie in the car (that’d been memorable, if only because Kara had somehow gotten her foot stuck in the steering wheel and had blown the horn long and loud while trying to free it. The mood had been thoroughly ruined, but Andrea had laughed so hard when she realized what happened that she’d almost been sick). Any time one of them is out of sight, the other takes full advantage of the ‘privacy’ (a relative term, at this point) backing Lena up against or bending her over the nearest available surface.

And while that is a very fun turn of events for Lena, it’s not what she _wants_.

What she _wants_ , almost _needs_ , at this point, is for both of them to actually talk to one another, an actual conversation about what's happening and what they want. And she’s given them plenty of opportunities to talk, but did they?

No.

And she gets that they’re both a bit nervous (even though Andrea would deny it to her dying day), but it’s just so _obvious_ that the feeling is mutual between them at this point that Lena almost wants to scream.

She sighs deeply, roused from her musings by Kara calling that it’s time for dinner. They’ve been having what Kara has been jokingly(?) calling family dinner every night for the past several weeks, and even when Lena had been pulled into an hours-long conference with the city board in regards to the homeless population currently occupying a few hotels she owns (evidently the mayor wasn’t pleased by her decision to open the luxury hotels to the people he deemed ‘undesirable’. Lena had responded to his concerns by calling the manager of that subsidiary and telling him to open the _rest_ of her empty hotels to those still without without homes, and the mayor had kept his opinions to himself for the rest of the meeting), Kara and Andrea had still had dinner at the table. It was very cute, and she has delighted in ribbing them about it ever since.

(" _How was your date? Did she try to cop a feel? You don’t have to put out just because she made you dinner.”_

 _“I hate you so much,_ querida _…”_ )

Lena sighs again, resigned to another night of watching them flirt, make obvious overtures at one another, and ultimately do nothing about it.

“Hey babe!” Kara ducks to bus her cheek. “Food should be on the table in a minute- would you mind opening the bottle I’ve got in the fridge?”

“Of course. I’ll even make it two.” 

Kara laughs, though Lena’s not entirely sure she’s joking.

Dinner is, as always, phenomenal- Kara can turn anything into a gourmet meal, and tonight’s pan-fried chicken with its spicy, crispy skin is no exception. The chardonnay she'd found to pair with it is perfect, with tart notes of green apple and lime that really brighten the dish. All of which Lena would be able to appreciate more, if she were drinking the wine, and not simply downing it as quickly as possible before refilling her glass. They’re well into the second bottle between them, now, and though Lena isn’t drunk, she’s certainly approaching tipsy.

“Hey, babe, you okay? You’re being awfully quiet.”

Lena blinks, swirling thoughts dissipating somewhat as she smiles over at her girlfriend. “I’m good, love. Sorry, I’m just… thinking.”

“Uh-oh,” Kara jokes. “You thinking can be dangerous. Last time I saw that look, we bought a house.”

“I’m having strong memories of a blown-up chemistry lab after you were ‘thinking…’” Andrea muses, grinning at Lena over the rim of her glass.

“You blew up the chem lab?!” Kara laughs, startled and delighted by the revelation.

“No. Technically, I set it on fire.”

“Right, of course,” Andrea drawls, voice fond. “How could I miss such a distinction?”

“Should I go hide the matches, maybe cordon off the stove?”

Lena rolls her eyes at them as they laugh. “You’re both hilarious.”

“Sorry, honey. What were you thinking about?”

There are any number of potential answers to that, because Lena’s brain runs at a million miles an hour at all times, and at any given moment she’s thinking of a dozen different things. Quantum entanglement and Keates and the book Sam gave her last Christmas and the quarterly budget reports she has to go over, still, even though the world has stopped still.

Any of these things would be a good answer to that question- all of them are even true.

But between the wine, and the frustration, and a half-remembered half-joke in her conversation with Sam the other night, what Lena says instead is-

“I think I want to have a three-way.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You may now resume your plans for murder.
> 
> (My bad, guys, this chapter totally got away from me and was gonna end up being the length of a children's chapter book if I didn't break it up)
> 
> As always thank you all for reading and I love to hear from you all (although I feel like what I'm about to hear is gonna be just a lot of swearing and telling me to do unnatural and/or impossible things to myself) and I am @deadbiwrites (ha, irony) over on Tumblr.
> 
> Also major props and love to @littlemousejelly who has been helping me stay sane(ish) and keep my head up throughout this entire story. She's a brilliant writer and a great friend, so go check her stuff out!


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